As a part of the Whois Data Accuracy specification, ICANN expects the Registrar to verify the contact information for the Registrant contact of each gTLD domain name, within 15 days of
- a domain name being registered with unverified contact details
- a domain name being transferred in
- the contact information of the Registrant contact information being modified
If the domain registrant does not verify the contact information within 15 days, the Registrar must suspend the domain name until the verification is completed. This requirement came into effect January 1st, 2014. Domain names registered prior to this date are not subject to such verification unless their contact information is modified.
Since January 1st, 2014, when a domain is registered, transferred or contact information is updated the registrant contact of a domain name receives an email notification to verify the email address. This mail will contain a link that the domain registrant must click on within 15 days to complete the verification.
If the registrant does not complete the verification in the allotted time (15 days), the name servers of the domain name are modified to point the domain name to a page that instructs the Registrant to contact their service provider to make it active again. When a customer contacts us in relation to this we will resend the verification email for authorisation and once contact detail has been verified the name servers of the domain are reset to the original configuration.
The impact of not verifying the contact detail within the 15 days results in the domain name going offline and email and web services for the domain ceasing to work. After the domain is verified it takes some time for services to become active again so it is important to verify your contact details as soon as possible.
Please note that the 2013 Registrar Accreditation Agreement does not apply to .ie domain names.