The main feature of the new Transfers (Change of Registrar) Policy (2003-03) is that domain name holders can now transfer their domain name to another registrar at any time without having to enter into a new two-year licence, effectively paying the fee twice. Previously, customers had to wait until within 90 days of their domain name renewal date before transferring.
Melbourne IT currently has one of the most expensive domain name renewal fees in the Australian industry, and many of the company's competitors believe it only kept its large customer base because of the added expense of changing registrars.
-ISP customers have been waiting for this change. They now face virtually no barrier to moving their domain names away from MelbourneIT to a cheaper registrar," said Larry Bloch, CEO of NetRegistry. He described the new policy as the "last and possibly most devastating blow" to MelbourneIT's Australian domain name business.
MelbourneIT see things differently. "The experience we've had is when the two-years have been up, people have renewed with us," MelbourneIT spokesperson Tom Valenta told ZDNet Australia . "We're not expecting a huge amount of change, there might be some that go for the cut price."
Valenta said the domain name registration industry has slim margins, and cut-price operators would soon prove themselves unviable.
The new transfer policy includes standard messages that must be sent during the transfer process, an apparent attempt to avoid companies sending out misleading messages, and the controversy that surrounds the event.
