View source for Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy

==Development==
The IRTP was developed through a consensus building process. In early 2003, the [[Transfer Task Force]] presented a report to the [[GNSO]] council. The report had 29 policy recommendations, which were accepted by the [[GNSO]] and were adopted by [[ICANN]]. ICANN coordinated with the [[TAG|Transfer Assistance Group]] (TAG) and [[GNSO]] to implement the transfer procedure. This policy has been required to be followed by all ICANN-accredited registrars throughout the world since November 12th, 2004.<ref>[http://ip-updates.blogspot.com/2004/07/icann-announces-inter-registrar.html IP-Updates Blog]</ref> The background documents and [[GNSO]] reviews on IRTP can be downloaded from [http://www.icann.org/en/transfers/ here].

In November, 2008, certain changes were made to the policy following advice from the [[ICANN Board]].<ref>[http://www.namesmash.com/icann-at-work-on-inter-registrar-transfer-policy/ NameSmash]</ref><ref>[http://192.0.43.22/en/announcements/announcement-17mar08.htm ICANN Announcements]</ref>

In 2011, the [[GNSO]] again reviewed the policy with respect to the issues of domain hijacking, the urgent return of an inappropriately transferred name and "lock status." On May 31st, 2011, the IRTP Working Group submitted a report featuring 9  suggested changes to the policy.<ref>[http://www.domainpulse.com/2011/05/31/icann-nine-recommendations-to-improve-the-inter-registrar-transfer-policy-irtp-part-b-wg-submits-final-report/ DomainPulse]</ref> The revised policy was open for comments from  July 8th, 2011, to August 8th, 2011.<ref>[http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-2-08jul11-en.htm ICANN Announcements]</ref>

===Initial Issues===
While the policy was under development, ICANN raised few issues and requested for the public to give their comments so that an effective policy could be made. The questions published by ICANN were:<ref>[http://www.namesmash.com/icann-at-work-on-inter-registrar-transfer-policy/ NameSmash Blog]</ref>
* Should registrars keep the email address of registrant in their database, so that he can be easily contacted when needed?
* Should the security of registrant data be increased in order to prevent hacking and spoofing? Should there be a Form of Authorization present to apply a double check?
* Should there be a provision for handling partial bulk transfers? Partial bulk transfers are those in which a registrar transfers some of its domains and not every domain.

===2012 Changes===
In January, 2012, ahead of its February [[ICANN 43]] meeting, the organization announced that it was considering changes to its IRTP. The GNSO council approved those changes, which defined a universal 5 day maximum allowable lock period for domains that have had changes made to the registrant's name in the [[Whois]] record. The new rule was seen as largely a response to [[GoDaddy]]'s 60 day lock policy, which had been a continued target for criticism. GoDaddy, through its representative [[James Bladel]], was involved in creating the proposed changes.<ref>[http://domainincite.com/end-in-sight-for-go-daddys-60-day-transfer-lock/ End in Sight for Go Daddys 60 Day Transfer Lock, DomainIncite.com]</ref>