Domain Name News

Domain Registration Lapses - It's Just Not Cricket

February 7, 2018

People in India love their cricket, so you can imagine the panic when the Board Of Cricket Control In India (BCCI) web site stopped functioning.

The BCCI is the national governing body for cricket in India and dates back to 1928. It organises and oversees a number of competitions and its web site is an important source of information for cricket fans in the country; including publishing of live scores on BCCI.tv.

However, on the weekend the site stopped working. It wasn't a technical glitch as such, but an administrative one - the registration the domain name expired on February 2 and wasn't renewed.

While some sources report the domain name then went up for auction, it would have still been in what's called the grace period, where the registrant has several weeks to pay the renewal fee. 

The domain was renewed and functioning by Sunday evening (local time), but the situation has opened up (or further stirred up) a can of worms regarding its administration. More on the story can be viewed here, but the main take-aways from the incident are:

• Don't put off domain name renewals - once you receive the first reminder from your registrar, it's best to act on it straight away.
• Ensure administrative contact details are correct so you receive the renewal notices.
• Ensure the right person is in control of the domain name. For example, for small businesses, a web developer may be the registrant and this may not be ideal - particularly if your association with the web developer ends.

Lapses in renewals aren't just inconvenient given that many business these days rely heavily on their web sites for sales or leads. If a domain should expire, it will also interfere with email communications through addresses associated with a domain.

.AU Expiry Processes

On a related note, expiry processes on .com.au domains and other .au names can be a little different to other extensions.  After registration lapses, the domain name is removed from the Domain Name System (DNS) and enters the "serverUpdateProhibited" and "serverHold" status for 30 calendar days. During this period, it can be renewed. If this period should pass, the domain name is purged from the registry at a random time on the next business day and is then available for others to register.

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