registry data and whois

what's the difference?

[SlyOldDog]

I am a bit confused. I am looking up whois for a particular domain name (on Domain Tools) and they list the expiration date of the domain as 2007 in the registry data.

But the whois output says 2006.

Anyone know what the difference is and which one matters for doman deletion purposes?

[edited by: SlyOldDog at 2:11 pm (utc) on Oct. 27, 2006]

[davezan]

Sounds like you're talking about an expired domain name.

For CNOBI (com/net/org/biz/info), their respective Registries autorenew expired domain names for 1 year and bill their sponsoring registrars accordingly for it. So the registrar's WHOIS (which is where #*$! is mainly basing it on) will show the domain name's actually expired yet it's renewed for a year at the Registry.

Shorthand is you use the registrar's WHOIS first. The only time you can "reliably" check using the Registry's WHOIS is if the domain name's already deleted.

But don't forget their disclaimers, of course, that the data you see might not be even accurate. ;)

[SlyOldDog]

Ok, so if a name is renewed for the registrar for another year. When will it finally get deleted if nobody buys it? 2007?

[davezan]

I suggest you read the sponsoring registrar's legal fine prints, specially for the policy on handling expired domain names. It should indicate how long they'll "retain" it before either trying to sell it to an interested buyer or deleting it altogether.

A .com domain name can take anywhere from at least 35-36 days to eternity to be released.