The domain extension update month is here

This month is packed with updates to various extensions. Find everything you need to know right here:

•  .es: the Spanish registry has improved its contact handling. Updating the address and telephone number information is now possible. However, it’s still necessary to assign a new handle to the domain name in order to change the email address. This feature applies to all contact information updates done after the 3rd of June.
  
•  .de: authorization codes are valid for 14 days now! Up until now, they were only valid for 1 day, which although very safe, also required our resellers and domain holders to act promptly. This was not always possible and, after listening to customers’ feedback, the registry finally decided to change it.
•  .co.il: the 90-day soft quarantine period is no longer supported. co.il domains can be restored at an additional fee for 44 days after being deleted.
•  .az: our supplier announced a last-minute price increase, effective from the 1st of July 2021. The price for .az registrations, renewals and transfers has increased by €25,00 for all Tiers and Supreme members.
•  .рус (.xn--p1acf): the registry will change its premium pricing on the 13th of January 2022. Currently, premium domains are expensive the first year ($210-$42,000) and can be renewed at the regular price ($8). The registry is lowering the first-year fee ($80-$2,700) and changing the renewal fee to make it match the (premium) registration fee. Domain names registered before the 13th of January 2022 will continue to be renewed at the old (standard) price.

Multi-year SSL certificate orders are changing

Because of the limited 1-year validity of SSL certificates, multi-year SSL certificate orders issued after the 18th of August will be configured as ‘subscription SSLs’: a series of one-year SSL certificates reissued annually. These SSL certificates will need to be re-validated and reinstalled every year, even if you order them year after year. Take a look at our Knowledge Base for more detailed information.

Brexit update for .eu domains

On the 1st of July, EURid (Registry) implemented the next step of its Brexit procedure: all .eu domain names that were registered by registrants of the United Kingdom or Gibraltar have now been withdrawn. Those domain names had already been suspended on the 1st of January. Contrary to the registry’s original plans, they have made it possible to recover a withdrawn domain name (even after the 1st of July) by its last holder in exceptional cases, provided they can present registration data that meets the .eu eligibility criteria.

If the last holder of a domain name wants to recover it, they must contact EURid directly and follow the recovery procedure. This means that they will have to submit a request to be evaluated by EURid. If granted, EURid will activate the domain name with the provided registration data by moving it to a dedicated EURid Brexit holding account. The status of the domain name will be updated to ‘registered’, and a one-year period will be added to the registration.

The domain name holder will then be invited to log in to their My.eu account (using the email address provided in the request) and will obtain a transfer authorisation code that can be shared with Openprovider for a regular transfer.

An active Brexit domain name that has not been transferred to an accredited registrar by the 31st of December 2021 will be revoked with the rest of the Brexit-withdrawn domain names, and subsequently made available for general registration on the 1st of January 2022.

Feature spotlight: premium domains in WHMCS

Did you know that you can provision premium domains via the Openprovider domain module for WHMCS? Configure your module to sell premium domains in just a few minutes. The margin on these domains can be significant, with prices ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars. 

Beyond just the potential margin, enabling premium domains ensures that your clients see all possible domain types. You don’t want your clients to see that premium domains can be found on other sites but not on yours, right?!

Just make sure that the currency you have in your Openprovider reseller account is configured in your WHMCS instance, and then follow these three steps from the module documentation.

.io promotion update

Great news! The ongoing .io promotion by ICB (Registry) has come to an end and, as a result, pricing has improved for new registrations, transfers and renewals. Since the 1st of July, Members now only pay $30.00 for their .io domains.