WHC - Whois Clarification (1.Viewing)

@FM wrote this statement and we addressed it in a previous topic but we never received clarification.

I cannot test it because I STILL cannot update whois in the new control panel.

That said...

If I update whois information does it really lock the .CA domain for 60 days?

What happens if I make a spelling mistake and I need to go back in and correct it, do I have to wait 60 days? - That could be problematic because I know at GoDaddy I was able to keep making changes.


All this is hypothetical right now because one can still not change whois unassisted at WHC.
Once in a while I can do it on the old control panel but even that is very buggy. The new panel always throws errors when updating whois.



Seriously, I cannot understand how WHC cannot fix the bug and give us straight answers about whois. Somehow I feel leery not having control of my whois, it makes me feel I need to ask permission whenever I need/want to change that.

I have a few other accounts at other registrars and this whole whois issue at WHC is preventing me from moving in more domains. As the owner of the domains I don't think it's too much to ask to have full control of my domains.

It's been months now and the whois issue and my above question about whois needs to be answered. Last I recollect we were told they were working on whois and we would be updated if making a change to whois really locks you out for 60 days preventing you from updating again.

---

On a positive side, I now have WHC hosting as well and the two integrate nicely, I love the cPanel and the new WHC control panel. I am pleased as punch with WHC and have no regrets moving in. I would probably move in more if the WHOIS issue was fixed, that is the only thing that has me concerned at this point. We have received no updates in months, it should be a priority at WHC to fix it now.

UPDATE​

I just moved in some more domains I had set to expire at GoDaddy, I reviwed them and found a few that had potential.

Example: With all the chat GPT stuff I decided MapleChat.ca might be worthwhile to renew.


Here are a few things I found...

1. I added 10 renewals to my shopping basket and wanted to add a number of transfers. It appears you cannot have a running shopping basket, I had to finish up the transfers and then separately do my renewals. I like to have minimal paperwork and there was no way for me to get back to the shopping basket once I left it to start another purchase.

2. It appears the old control panel is doing whois updates, I was able to perform a number of them unassisted, so it's just the new panel that does not update whois. Quite honestly the new panel is so nice it feels weird going back to the old one to do that.

3. I used the old control panel to change whois several times on an old domain so it appears the statement below is incorrect, you are able to change whois multiple times. I did that on an old domain so I can verify that it works. Now I have to see if it actually locks the OLD domain when the whois changes are made. (I will update that)

Play by the rules: Keep your WHOIS information valid and up-to-date. Every adjustment to the registrant’s contact information locks the domain for 60 days, blocking the domain from being transferred or any other information from being changed. Invalid information could also lead to losing your domain.

Click to expand...

When you transfer in, the above are the default settings so no need to adjust them.

However, I can find no place in the control panel that tells me if the domain is locked and for how long.

MapleDots said:

When you transfer in, the above are the default settings so no need to adjust them.

However, I can find no place in the control panel that tells me if the domain is locked and for how long.

Click to expand...

Just check actual whois and see if it says Server*Prohibited.

rlm said:

Just check actual whois and see if it says Server*Prohibited.

Click to expand...

Most registrar interfaces only show options & status for Client holds, i.e., holds set by the Registrar. Those are set either by the the Registrar at the request of the Registrant, asking to lock the domain for theoretical extra security, or, set by the registrar, to block a Registrant from transferring out a domain before they pay their outstanding bills. However, I see now that GoDaddy and possibly others use the Client holds for enforcing their own internal policies. I've always had a fundamental problem with that because CIRA does not dictate that a domain be locked after registrant updates, only after new registrations and transfers. So from CIRA's perspective, it is legal to transfer a domain after you update the whois. This is ideal where you sell a domain, you update the whois for them BEFORE your transfer, then you give them the auth code. This way you don't get ignorant or lazy buyers who never update your contact information after they transfer the domain. But now that Godaddy is enforcing their internal policy to NOT allow a transfer after ANY registrant update, that really mess things up. Even after a PUSH, they are locking the domain for 60 days I believe, or at least refusing to provide an auth code (thanks to CIRA for creating a backdoor for that at least). In any case, I went round and round with them over that and is just another reason why I won't keep domains at GoDaddy.

rlm said:

Just check actual whois and see if it says Server*Prohibited.

Click to expand...

I can see that when I go to whois.com but not on the CIRA whois, which is kind of strange.

MapleDots said:

I cannot test it because I STILL cannot update whois in the new control panel.

Click to expand...

This is currently being worked on. The new client area is still in beta, and some of the fixes took a bit longer, but the functionality is available in the old client area, as you already discovered. A bug was also there, but that was fixed a while back. Let me know if it doesn't work for you there, either.

MapleDots said:

If I update whois information does it really lock the .CA domain for 60 days?

Click to expand...

No, it doesn't. I will ensure we customize the messaging in the new client area to clarify this in a future update.

MapleDots said:

What happens if I make a spelling mistake and I need to go back in and correct it, do I have to wait 60 days? - That could be problematic because I know at GoDaddy I was able to keep making changes.

Click to expand...

Regarding the changes that place a lock on the domain (i.e. for gTLDs), you must confirm the change before it becomes active and set a 60-day lock. The lock does not prevent further changes, it prevents the transfer, and even that can be overridden by our team if necessary.

MapleDots said:

However, I can find no place in the control panel that tells me if the domain is locked and for how long.

Click to expand...

This is an excellent suggestion/addition. I believe we have this for the RAA validation emails for gTLDs in the old client area; I'll ensure we also display this someplace in the new client area.