Understanding the domain lifecycle.
When you do a Domain Whois lookup, you will see:
Domain Name: DOTEASY.COM
Registrar: TUCOWS INC.
Whois Server: whois.tucows.com
Referral URL: http://domainhelp.opensrs.net
Name Server: DNS1.IN2NET.COM
Name Server: DNS2.IN2NET.COM
Status: clientTransferProhibited
Status: clientUpdateProhibited
Updated Date: 24-jul-2007
Creation Date: 21-aug-1999
Expiration Date: 21-aug-2008
>>> Last update of whois database: Mon, 31 Mar 2008 22:46:07 UTC <<<
Status: ACTIVE
An active status signifies that the domain is not locked, expired, on hold, in redemption or pending deletion.
Status: REGISTRAR-HOLD
The expiration date will be pushed forward a year by the registrar and is not an accurate indicator that the domain has expired. After expiration, the domain will lapse into a Grace period of about 40 days. As during expiration, the user can renew the domain for the same cost as a regular domain renewal, although it can take 48-72 hours for the domain to become active again.
Status: REDEMPTION-PERIOD
After the 40-day grace period has lapsed, the domain will enter the Redemption Period, which can last up to 30 days. The domain name at this stage will now cost more to renew due to the manual addition to the registry by the registrar. It can take several days for the domain to become active again once the fees are paid.
Status: PENDING-DELETE
The final step is deletion, which occurs 5 days after the Redemption Period ends. The domain will be removed from the registry entirely and then become publicly available for registration.
Status: REGISTRAR-LOCK (or Status: TransferProhibited)
This usually means that the domain is locked at the DNS nameservers. A lock prevents a domain from being transferred. The owner or the registrar will have to unlock the domain, which then the status will be restored to ACTIVE.
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Last Updated
6th of June, 2008