28 more top level domains can be locked at the registry level.
Afilias is the latest domain name registry to offer a Registry Lock service for websites that need added protection against hijacking and nameserver changes.
Registry Lock is very different from locking a domain name at a registrar. A typical domain lock means a domain can’t be transferred to another registrar until it is unlocked in the registrar interface.
Registry Lock requires manual authentication with both the registrar and registry before changes can be made to a domain.
Different registries have different procedures, but Registry Lock usually requires a domain owner to request a change with the registrar and then the registrar completes a manual process with the registry to allow the change. Domain registrar Blacknight explains the process on its website.
It’s a necessary service for big websites, and would have saved the New York Times from having its nameservers hijacked in 2013.
As of 2013, .com registry Verisign charged $10 a month for its Registry Lock service. Registrars typically charge $300-$600 per year because of the manual work involved. I suspect registrars will charge a similar price for Afilas’ service, although brand protection registrars often bundle it with other services.
The Afilias service will be available for 28 top level domains.
Charles Christopher says
>Registrars typically charge $300-$600 per year
If registrants are willing to pay that much for a lock, one wonders how much they would pay for the domain registration.
Andrew Allemann says
For a domain like NYTimes.com? A lot.
Charles Christopher says
But Afilias is not the registry for .com, it is the registry for “Worthless” (the word of many others, not mine) nTLDs ….
Therefor, a $300-$600 *SERVICE* for a $10 .INFO just pushes up the price for all other TLDs as well. Even if its just an issue of perception, which it is not.
If someone is willing to pay ~$450 for a service, then they should be willing to pay that for the underlying domain each year and MORE.
I also think, and I’ve made this statement publically for years, registries are going to charge for domain resolution. A DNS tax. That is the more traffic your domain receives, the more “load” you place on the registry infrastructure, and the more they will charge for the domain. This will be the ultimate way to censor free speech as ones success then incures a shift to revenue generation to pay bills versus generate content ….. I am not suggesting this argument makes sense, I just point to the fact that such taxation / pricing arguments are as old as humanity itself ….
In modernity it is sometimes referred to as “common-ism” or “communism”. Its the “only fair way to price the community’s resources” …. Further funneling the chattel into the common domains of social media and lack of rights to the content you generate.
Individuals will still be able to obtain “$10” domains, so long as “nobody” visits their sites ….