Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy
IRTP is the Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy developed by ICANN for the safe, straight-forward transfer of domain names from one registrar to another.[1] The policy contains information about the method of transferring a domain name, dispute resolution mechanism and the method of undoing the transfer if it was done as a result of an error.[2]
Development
The IRTP was developed through a consensus building process. In early 2003, the Transfer Task Force presented a report to GNSO council. The report had 29 policy recommendations which were accepted by the GNSO and were adopted by ICANN. ICANN coordinated with the Transfer Assistance Group (TAG) and GNSO to implement the transfer procedure. This policy is required to be followed by all the registrars throughout the world since November 12th, 2004.[3] The background documents and GNSO reviews on IRTP can be downloaded from here.
In November, 2008, certain changes were made to the policy following advice from the ICANN Board.[4][5]
As of 2011, the GNSO is again reviewing 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.[6] The revised policy was open for comments from July 8th, 2011, to August 8th, 2011.[7]