Newsletter March 2021

March is here and it’s really packing a punch! This month we’ve got tons of news about the domain industry to share with you, from Brexit repercussions to custom domains for the beauty industry.

The beauty industry is in for a treat. Beauty, .Hair, .Skin, and .Makeup are here!

XYZ is introducing the ONLY domains made specially for the beauty industry. .Beauty, .Hair, .Skin and .Makeup have been available since the 2nd of March. Don’t miss out!

Your customers will be able to:

  •  Enhance their domain names for flawless brand presence
  •  Be instantly recognized as beauty industry leaders
  •  Optimize their domain names to attract more organic search traffic
  •  Make their URLs more memorable
  •  Lead modern beauty fans and insiders to their websites

.es transfers can now be canceled!

One feature that most of our clients kept requesting for their .es domains was the ability to cancel initiated transfers. The main reasons being: domain owners changing their minds and emails sent by the registry to domain holders (including an ‘approve transfer’ link) not being received. Due to technical constraints, resellers that wanted to cancel a transfer had to contact our support department, which then manually cancelled the transfer at the registry.

That’s no longer an issue! We have now found a solution with the registry, so from now on you can cancel any incoming transfer! The process is similar to any other cancellation request, e.g., for a .com domain.

Whois white label naming just got interesting

At Openprovider, we try to listen to our resellers and use the feedback they give us to improve and transform into the best registrar out there! We started by implementing white label registrar naming for major ccTLDs in the Whois directory and now, since last month, this applies to the biggest gTLDs (like .com and .net) too!

Your customers will no longer find Openprovider when searching on the Whois directory, but our white label name instead! Here’s an example of a Whois look-up for a .com domain name:

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Brexit consequences for .eu and .fr domains

AFNIC(.fr domain registry) and EURid (.eu domain registry) have published a statement regarding the Brexit policy and what it means for their top extensions:

  •  .eu domains belonging to British domain holders have been suspended since the 1st of January 2021. Until the 30th of June 2021 (this used to be the 31st of March), you can assign a new, eligible, domain holder to the domain name in order to reactivate it. On the 1st of July 2021, EURid will withdraw all unchanged domain names. From that moment on, it will no longer be possible to reactivate the domain names. On the 1st of January 2022, the domains will be deleted. Further information is available on EURid’s Brexit notice page.
  •  .fr domains (including AFNIC’s other extensions .re, .yt, .tf, .pm and .wf) belonging to British domain holders are not affected. The eligibility requirement stating that registrants should have an address in the European Union only applies at the moment of registration. Existing domains can be renewed, updated and transferred without any additional restrictions. However, since the 1st of January 2021 it has no longer been possible for British domain holders to register new .fr domains. Read AFNIC’s full statement for more detailed information.

Uncle Sam lays down the law on Afilias

At the end of 2020, Afilias was acquired by Donuts. Since Donuts is a US-based company, all domain registrations with Afilias now also fall under US law. This means that the registry is no longer permitted to provide services to countries, regions, entities, or individuals targeted by applicable US trade sanctions (OFAC listings).

As a result, Afilias has started strengthening their checks on the domains they manage. When a connection with a US-sanctioned country is found, the domain is  suspended by the registry. If this happens to a domain you manage, you will need to change the owner of the domain (by way of connecting a new handle), so that the new owner does not violate the US trade sanctions.

Additionally,  you will need to provide Openprovider with identification documentation for the new owner. This can be sent by email to the Openprovider support department. Only then will the registry consider reactivating the domain.

A price rise is in sight for .ai

The .ai registry has announced a $28 price increase, effective from the 15th of April 2021. The new Tier price now ranges from $192 to $230 for a 2-year registration period. Supreme Members will find updated pricing information in the Control Panel and API, or by contacting their Account Manager, after the 15th of April.

This price change applies to the top level domain .ai, as well as the second level domains .com.ai, .net.ai, .org.ai and .off.ai.

New gTLD updates

Sunrises:

  •  20 April: .spa

General Availabilities:

  •  2 March: .forum
  •  2 March: .beauty, .makeup, .skin, .hair and .quest

Upcoming price changes:

  •  1 March: .berlin
  •  1 April: .co.za, .net.za, .org.za, .web.za
  •  1 April: .cloud
  •  1 July: .club
  •  1 September: .com
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