Registry Lock Procedure

What is Registry Lock?

Registry Lock is a service offered by the .ME Registry to protect a registered .ME domain from unauthorized transfer, updates and deletion.

When a .ME domain is authorized for Registry Lock, the domain name will be updated by the Registry with the following statuses that are visible in WHOIS:

• serverDeleteProhibited
• serverTransferProhibited
• serverUpdateProhibited                                                                                     

The Registrar may in addition update the label with

• clientDeleteProhibited
• clientTransferProhibited
• clientUpdateProhibited

The protections set by the Registry (serverDeleteProhibited, serverTransferProhibited and serverUpdateProhibited) enable a high security level to prevent unauthorized transactions connected to the domain.

Detailed descriptions of the EPP status codes can be found at https://www.icann.org/epp.

Limitations 

• The Registry Lock service is only applicable to second level registrations of .ME domains (e.g. “domain.me”) and third level of .co.me/.org.me/.net.me/.its.me/.priv.me (e.g. “domain.co.me”).
• The Registry Lock service will enable security for contact and host objects as registered on Registry level. Any additional information maintained by the sponsoring registrar will not be protected for updates. Registry Lock service can only be executed for registrations sponsored by the requesting Registrar.
• Delete within Renew Grace Period: In the event a Registrar wishes to delete a domain after a renewal they will be unable to do so unless they contact Identity Digital Technical Support with the Registry Technical Support in cc to have the Registry Lock removed. In the case of auto renew, because the auto renew grace period is 45 days, this should not be considered a substantial issue. However, with explicit renewals there is only a 5 day grace period. The registrar will need to contact Identity Digital Technical Support with the Registry Technical Support in cc within this period and delete the name in order to receive a refund.

Offering the .ME Registry Lock Service

In order to offer .ME Registry Lock, Registrars must sign Registry Lock Service Appendix. This Appendix contains specific terms and pricing for the .ME Registry Lock Service. A copy of the Appendix can be requested by contacting Registry Technical Support at regloc@domain.me. 

Registry Lock Procedure 

E-mail notifications

All notifications from/to Identity Digital Technical Support shall be sent/received from
techsupport@identity.digital.

All notifications from/to Registry Technical Support shall be sent/received from
regloc@domain.me.

Locking domain name

The sponsoring Registrar will contact Identity Digital Technical Support via a service ticket and authenticate themselves using the Registrar representative security phrase.

1. Authorized contact at the Registrar provides a .txt or .csv file with a list of domains to be placed on Registry Lock via a service ticket to Identity Digital Technical Support. The Registry Technical Support will be included in all email correspondence.
2. The .txt or .csv file will contain the list of domain names, one name per line.
3. Identity Digital Technical Support will verify that list of domains provided by the registrar are owned by the registrar. Identity Digital Technical Support will contact the registrar if the sponsoring registrar does not match – these labels will not be able to be locked.
4. Identity Digital Technical Support will organize a conference call with the Registrar.
5. Identity Digital Technical Support will confirm the following with the Registrar on the phone:
   a. the list of domains to be placed on Registry Lock.
   b. domain(s) under client renew lock status.
6. Identity Digital Technical Support will subscribe the valid domain names provided by the Registrar to the Registry Lock service and specify a reason for “registry-lock”.
7. Identity Digital Technical Support will inform the Registrar via phone that their request has been completed. The Registry Technical Support will be included in all email correspondence.
8.  Identity Digital Technical Support will record the domain name(s), Registry Lock operation (initiated), the date and time and the ticket number of the request and can also record the name of the person who requested the lock.

Unlocking domain name for updates

This procedure allows a registrar to perform transformations (update, transfer, delete) on a domain(s) that is enrolled in the Registry Lock service.

1. Authorized contact at the Registrar provides a .txt or .csv file with a list of domains to be removed from Registry Lock via a service ticket to Identity Digital Technical Support. The Registry Technical Support will be included in all email correspondence.
2. The .txt or .csv file will contain the list of domain names, one name per line.
3. Identity Digital Technical Support will verify that list of domains provided by the registrar are owned by the registrar. Identity Digital Technical Support will contact the registrar if the sponsoring registrar does not match – these labels will not be able to be unlocked. The Registry Technical Support will be included in all email correspondence.
4. Identity Digital Technical Support will organize a conference call with the Registrar to confirm the request.
5. Identity Digital Technical Support will confirm the list of domains to be removed from Registry Lock with the Registrar on the phone and and discuss/confirm the desired length of time for the updates to take place. By default, unlocked domains will be automatically re-locked by the service after 72 hours. Alternative unlock time frames can be requested if required.
6. Identity Digital Technical Support will remove the server statuses from the domain name(s) provided by the Registrar.
7. Identity Digital Technical Support will inform the Registrar by responding using the initial service ticket that their request has been completed. The Registry Technical Support will be included in all email correspondence.
8. The Registrar will perform their desired operations on the domain name(s) and confirm this by responding to the initial service ticket. The Registry Technical Support will be included in all email correspondence.
9. Identity Digital Technical Support will place the domain back onto Registry Lock once the Registrar has completed their operations. The Registry Technical Support will be included in all email correspondence.
10. Identity Digital Technical Support will record the domain name(s), Registry Lock operation (removed/added), the date and time and the ticket number of the request. 

Cancellation of the Registry Lock service

This procedure describes the method in which a registrar can cancel the Registry Lock service for any domain(s) that are enrolled.

1. Authorized contact at the Registrar provides a .txt or .csv file with a list of domains to be removed from Registry Lock via a service ticket. The Registry Technical Support will be included in all email correspondence.
2. The .txt or .csv file will contain the list of domain names, one name per line.
3. Identity Digital Technical Support will verify that list of domains provided by the registrar are owned by the registrar. Identity Digital Technical Support will contact the registrar if the sponsoring registrar does not match. The Registry Technical Support will be included in all email correspondence.
4. Identity Digital Technical Support will organize a conference call with the Registrar.
5. Identity Digital Technical Support will confirm the list of domains to be removed from Registry Lock with the Registrar on the phone.
6. Identity Digital Technical Support will remove the server statuses from the domain name(s) provided by the registrar.
7. Identity Digital Technical Support will inform the registrar using the initial service ticket that their request has been completed. The Registry Technical Support will be included in all email correspondence.
8. Identity Digital Technical Support will record the domain name(s), Registry Lock operation (cancelled), the date and time and the ticket number of the request in the tracking spreadsheet.

Registry Lock Invoicing

Registry Lock charges will appear on the Statement as “Registry Lock”, and will be charged per month per domain name. Registry Lock charges will be automatically deducted from the Registrar account at the start of the next billing month following the month that Registry Lock is implemented.