As of January 1, 2014, ICANN requires all accredited registrars to verify their new contact information. You can read about ICANN's new policy at: http://www.icann.org/en/resources/registrars/raa/approved-with-specs-27jun13-en.htm#whois-accuracy.
Q: Who is the Registrant?
A: The Registrant in OpenSRS is the Organization Contact Record (RWI) or Owner Contact Record (UCP).
Q: What exactly is the validation process?
A: The validation process is a 15 day window during which a Registrant must provide an affirmative response to an email that OpenSRS will send to them. The email contains a link that the Registrant is asked to click. When they click this link, they are taken to a page that displays the email address, first and last name that they used to register the domain. The validation email message also includes a link to the domain registration terms and conditions and a checkbox that they must click to indicate that they agree to those terms and conditions. Failure to respond to this email will result in the domain being suspended. The validation page looks something like this:
Q: What does "suspended" mean?
A: Suspended means that we interrupt the DNS and prevent the domain from resolving. The domain will be placed on ClientHold and our internal WHOIS Lock.
Q: What information does the registrant need to validate?
A: OpenSRS will be validating three pieces of registrant contact data: First name, Last name and Email address. When a registrant purchases, transfers, or updates a domain's registrant contact information, OpenSRS first checks to see if a previously validated record exists for that combination of First name, Last name, and Email Address. If an exact match exists, the domain will be considered validated and no further action is required. If an exact match does not exist, the registrant will be sent an email asking them to validate their First name, Last name, and Email Address. For example, John Doe john@doe.com is different from Johnathan Doe john@doe.com, and both will require separate validation.
Q: Which TLDs does this process apply to?
A: The validation process applies to all gTLDs. This also includes the new gTLDs.
Q: What action will trigger the validation process?
A: Any new registration, transfer in, or contact update will trigger the validation process. The cron job that generates the validation messages runs once a day.
Q: What change will trigger the validation process for an existing domain?
A: Any change to the First name, Last name, or Email address will trigger the validation process, unless it was previously validated.
Q: What else will trigger the validation process for an existing domain?
A: If the WDRP or ERRP (Day 30 and Day 5 Renewal Notices) bounce, the domain will enter the validation process.
Q: Will previously registered domain names require validating as of Jan. 1/2014?
A: No, we do not have to retroactively validate domain names.
Q: How many emails will a Registrant receive once the validation process has started?
A: A Registrant will receive an email to validate their contact information on day 1, day 5, day 10 and day 13. On day 16, if they haven't validated their information, they will receive an email informing them that their domain name has been suspended.
Here is a diagram showing the timelines:
Q. How do I resend the email?
A. In the Control Panel, find and display the domain, click Resend Registrant Verification Email.
Q: How long will it take for my domain to come back online after I validate my information?
A: Your domain should come back online instantly.
Q: My domain is suspended due to a bounced WDRP or ERRP notice so I can't receive the validation email. What do I do?
A: Registrant should login to account panel and update the email address. This will trigger the validation process if necessary.
Q: One of my domains WDRP or ERRP notice has bounced. Does that mean all my domains with the same contact information will enter the validation process?
A: No, the validation process only applies to that specific domain name where the WDRP and ERRP notice bounces. However, we would recommend that the registrant check their email address on all other domains to prevent any future WDRP or ERRP bounces.
Q: When are the validation emails sent out?
A: We send all the emails at midnight (EST) time. If a reseller manually resend the email through the control panel, it gets sent out immediately.