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Domain Name Legals, Part 3. The Peculiar Case of the IE Domain

An .ie domain name registration is protected by the IE Domain Registrar (iedr.ie) in that your 'ownership' of the .ie domain name is assured. When you buy from one of their official resellers, the iedr.ie rules are such that you must be declared Registrant ('owner') and that, you, or someone from your company, must be nominated as the Admin Contact for your .ie domain name. The reseller will be nominated Billing and Technical contact. And, of course, the reseller is the Account Holder.

How the IE Domain Name Registrar ('the IEDR') differs from non-IE Registrars

  1. iedr.ie is the ONE and ONLY IE Domain Name Registrar for the .ie domain name
  2. The rules for the name you choose are strictly governed by the iedr.ie 
  3. It is difficult, though not impossible, to register your domain name YOURSELF directly with iedr.ie

iedr.ie discourages anybody other than its Resellers to undertake domain name registrations as you can see from this posting on the front page of their website.

IEDR encourages you to buy from an official resellerImg 1. IEDR encourages you to buy from an official reseller

There are 2 major obstacles to buying direct from IEDR

  1. It's 3-4 times more expensive to buy direct from iedr.ie
  2. There are no help files on the iedr.ie website to show you how to register directly

This is a highly unusual situation. Most top level domain registrars sell directly to consumers for less not more! My own opinion, right or wrong, is that it's an "irish solution to an irish problem" and it came about due to strong pressure on the iedr.ie from the Irish Resellers.

That puts you into the hands of an official .ie Reseller, which means -
  • Reseller is the Account Holder with username and password access to the domain name account
  • You are the Registrant('owner')
  • You, or anyone you nominate from your company, is the Admin Contact
  • Reseller is the Billing Contact 
  • Reseller is the Technical Contact

This is the official iedr.ie position on how a licensed .IE Reseller will normally proceed to nominate the legal entities of your .ie domain name. And the iedr.ie will rectify any 'mistakes' should you find your position is different from this, just ring them. (Learn about using the WHOIS service to find out who all the contacts are for your domain.)

Advantages of registering domain with an official .ie reseller

  • You are both Registrant('owner') and Admin Contact
  • Possibility of significantly cheaper prices
  • Protection under Irish law
  • Reseller performs the .ie domain name registration (which is notoriously difficult)
If I go through an official reseller, will I have access rights to the IEDR domain name account?

The short answer is yes, if you want it. If your current reseller doesn't provide you with a domain name account, then just contact iedr.ie and explain that you are the Admin Contact of your .ie domain name and that you want username and password access to your IEDR domain name account. They will email the details to whatever email address was provided at the time of registration concerning the Admin Contact details. (The username in iedr.ie is also called the NIC Handle.)

What about cheaper prices from licensed .ie Resellers?

iedr.ie offer a bulk scheme to successful Resellers offering them .ie domain names at significantly lower prices than cost.

There are 2 tiers of Resellers - the 'A' list and the 'B' list, with the 'A' list getting better prices than the 'B' list because they have more .ie domain names registered. It is up to the Reseller in question whether or not to pass on the better prices to the consumer. Some do, others don't. You can find a list of the 'A' and 'B' .ie Resellers here.

When you have the list, you can then check their websites for their current pricing information. Don't forget to add VAT, since most advertise their prices without VAT.

Disadvantages of registering domain with an official .ie reseller

The disadvantage, as always, is if a dispute arises between you and your .ie reseller. You may be refusing to pay them any more money and they, in turn, may be refusing to cooperate with you.

These types of problems can be further exacerbated because you may be purchasing more than just a domain name from them. In many cases, you may also be using the .ie resellers company as a webhost too.

If you have not paid your bills (for whatever reason) then the .ie reseller company may be within their rights as Billing Contact of your domain to withhold your domain name fee to iedr.ie. This will only happen if your domain name falls due for renewal. You can get that date by checking your domain name information using the WHOIS service. If iedr.ie are not paid, your domain name account will go into a state of 'suspension', after which it will be deleted. It's best in these circumstances to ring the IEDR (+353 1 2365400) and let them know that you are in a dispute with your official reseller. That might buy you some time.

If your dispute occurs before you 'owe them money', you can change your Billing Contact to another .IE Reseller, or to whomsoever you please, including yourself, if you want to.

How can I change my Billing Contact?

If you registered your .ie domain name through a licensed .ie reseller, then your reseller is the Billing Contact. You will notice that the Billing Contact information will be 'greyed out' in your IEDR domain name account (if you have access to it - so even with access, you cannot change this information by simply logging into your account!)

If your new Billing Contact is going to be another reseller, then just contact the 'new' reseller and ask them to transfer you out - they do this all the time.

If you want your new Billing Contact to be you, then the Admin Contact of your domain name (probably you) will need to fax a request up to iedr.ie on your official company paper. Follow this procedure on the iedr.ie website on how to change the Billing Contact of a .ie Domain Name - refer to the section Transfer to a non IE Reseller)

Either way you do it, if you change your Billing Contact, you will have to pay a years domain fees immediately, either at the reseller rate, or the IEDR rate whichever applies.

.ie resellers and the Registrar Lock

The iedr does apply a Registrar Lock, but it is not used in the same way as other (non IE) Registrars.

The Registrar lock will apply in a Reseller situation, but only for a short period of time. When you first sign-up with a Reseller, your domain name is put into LOCK status and will remain locked until the Reseller pays your fee to iedr.ie. If the Reseller doesn't pay the fee (perhaps because you haven't paid the Reseller?), then iedr.ie will eventually delete the domain name.

The Registrar lock will also apply when there is a change of Billing Contact. A change of Billing Contact requires a payment in advance of the full domain name fee. When payment is received by iedr.ie, the Registrar Lock will be removed.

While the Registrar Lock is ON -
  • You cannot request a change of Billing Contact
  • You cannot transfer your domain name to a new Reseller

The Registrar Lock does not affect your rights (except for the short time period that it comes into effect) to transfer to a new Reseller, or to change your Billing Contact.

Should I register a .ie domain myself through IEDR?

The short answer is 'no'. Go through an official .ie reseller instead and benefit from the cheaper prices and the inherent protection you have under Irish law.

So why bother with this article then?

Because it took me a while to fully grasp what was going on and why the Irish set up was so different to everywhere else. Even at that, my own decision at the end of it was to register directly with IEDR - it costs more, sure, but I like knowing that I can change over webhosts in under 2 minutes, and whenever it suits. The only person I have to consult is me... ;)