2025-02-28 nz registrar news in February 2025: conflicted names process outcome, IRS release timing, and more
Kia ora!
Welcome to the .nz registrar update. You are receiving it because you are subscribed to the .nz registry updates.
In today’s email:
Conflicted names process outcome that may affect some of your customers
IRS release timing
clientTransferProhibited policy reminder
Important dates
April: the next IRS release date to be announced
1 July: deadline for registering a change of preference for conflicted .nz domains
Conflicted names process outcome
Thank you for your help during our review of the conflicted domain name process. After a full consultation, we’ve made a final decision on the review outcome.
In summary, the policy change:
Retires the process of allowing agreements to be made as to who should register a conflicted domain name, including ending the lodging of preference changes at 12 pm on Tuesday, 1 July 2025.
Continues to block the remaining conflicted domain names from registration.
Confirms and continues the ability for InternetNZ to release conflicted domain names in the future when only one remaining conflicted domain name holder remains in a conflict set. The remaining party is offered the conflicted second level .nz domain name first.
This approach was agreed at the InternetNZ Council meeting of InternetNZ on 14 February 2025.
Conflicted domain name holders have all received an email stating that if they would like to register the conflicted second level .nz domain name, they have four months to use the existing process and agree with the other party/parties who should register it. The party/parties withdrawing from the conflict will need to register a change of preference before 12 pm on Tuesday, 1 July 2025.
They have also been advised that the conflicted domain name process does not affect their ability to use the domain name already registered. The process relates to qualifying to register the conflicted second level .nz domain name.
It’s unlikely that your support team would have any customer requests related to the conflicted names. If some requests come through, please, refer the domain name holders to the DNC website for more information on the resolution process
If you have any questions about the policy change, email us at registry@internetnz.net.nz.
IRS release timing
The .nz team is currently reviewing the IRS release schedule, to ensure both you and our team have enough time for pre-release testing and troubleshooting. We don’t plan to have any releases until the end of March.
The next IRS release date will be announced in April. Meanwhile, please contact us if you have any questions.
ClientTransferProhibited — .nz Rules reminder
There are currently over 29,000 .nz domains with ClientTransferProhibited set, and we’d like to remind you that our Rules prohibit this setting for .nz. Please review your current configurations to ensure they comply with the .nz Rules.
This is important because we’re seeing a rise in reports from domain name holders and registrars that their transfer requests are being blocked. This happens because the ClientTransferProhibited status is not removed when a transfer request is made, even after a new authorisation code is provided to the domain name holder for the purpose of transfer.
Please refer to the nz Rules Section 4.1.3 and the IRS Guide for more information about .nz domain transfer policies and clientTransferProhibited status.
To comply with .nz Rules you must promptly remove any client status locks that prevent a domain transfer when a registrant/domain name holder requests an authorisation code for the purpose of domain transfer.
If you have any questions or require assistance in making the necessary adjustments, please do not hesitate to contact our support team at registry@internetnz.net.nz.
Kind regards | Ngā mihi,
.nz team