English
Magyar
Deutsch
Slovenščina
Significant changes to the .hu Domain Registration Rules (Domainregisztrációs Szabályzat) come into force on 1 April 2023. They are best seen as fine-tuning, and in the long run they serve the interests of users.
Many people are nevertheless unsure about the new rules, so below we have collected the most important changes and answered the questions they raise, so that everyone can prepare for the switch.
The rules change on three main points:
- the notice period becomes shorter;
- the time for restoring a domain from pre-deletion parking changes;
- 10-year domain registration is introduced.
Let’s take a closer look at what these changes mean from 1 April 2023.
The notice period is shortened to 30 days
One of the most important changes to .hu domain registration concerns the 45-day notice period, and with it the 60-day period of pre-deletion parking also changes: both are reduced to 30 days.
This will, of course, affect all domain names, including those terminated or slated for deletion before 1 April. The 30-day period will already apply to them, which naturally raises several questions, so let’s look at the practical side of the change with a few examples.
If, for example, a domain name was terminated more than 30 days before 1 April, it moves automatically and immediately into pre-deletion parking on the day of the change, so the change also applies retroactively.
If the domain name was terminated before 1 April but has not yet completed 30 days, subtract 15 days from the previously calculated 45-day period to get the date on which it moves into pre-deletion parking.
Pre-deletion parking changes in the same way. If a domain name has already been in this state for more than 30 days, it will be deleted automatically on 1 April; if it entered parking less than 30 days earlier, subtract 30 days from the previous 60 to get the final deletion date.
So whereas previously there were 105 days (45 + 60) in which a domain could be restored, from April this period is reduced to 60 days. This can be extremely important in certain cases, as the new deadlines may cause inconvenience for many, so it is worth drawing clients’ attention to it separately.
The time for restoring a domain from pre-deletion parking is also changing
Another significant change to the .hu Domain Registration Rules is that the time for restoring a domain from pre-deletion parking is changing as well.
As far as fees are concerned, a restoration request will in future have to be treated as if it concerned a completely new domain, so in such cases neither the domain name’s anniversary date nor its registration date changes in the register.
As this is rather hard to follow in this form, let’s look at a few concrete examples to keep things simple.
If, for example, the restoration date falls in February, the one-year registration fee must always be paid from the first day of that year. For a date in February 2023, the fee therefore covers the period from 1 January 2023 to 1 January 2024.
The domain’s expiry date and the anniversary date for fees will also be 1 January 2024 if notice of termination was submitted for the domain name back in 2022, but a restoration request was filed in December and the one-year registration fee was paid.
10-year domain registration
A significant change to the Domain Registration Rules is that from 1 April 2023 you can reserve a chosen name for 10 years, which is not only a major simplification but also a particularly convenient solution for those planning for the longer term.
If you opt for 10-year registration, you won’t need to do anything about your domain name for a decade: there is no need to keep worrying about when the invoice is due, as your domain is guaranteed to keep working until the end of the term.
It was, of course, already possible to reserve a domain name for an indefinite as well as a fixed term, but even then it was in practice renewed every year – although the client might notice no more than an obligation to pay – because there was no way to grant a right of use for longer than one year. The only exception was new registrations, where this extended to two years.
The rules were last amended not long ago, on 1 July 2021, when it became possible to register domain names for 5 years. That was also a huge help, but in many cases even longer periods are needed.
That is why the 10-year registration term comes into force on 1 April. Every domain registration with such a fixed-term contract has to be administered accordingly and brought into line in the system of the .hu registry, retrospectively too. The rules allow a one-year grace period for this, meaning it can be done until 31 March 2024.
The obvious question is what can be done if someone’s registration contract fixed the use of the domain name for more than 10 years.
Although it is practically impossible to grant a right of use for a longer period, the .hu domain registry accepts that such contracts were concluded in the past. It would, however, like to phase them out in the future, using the annual statistical data as a control.
Registrars can achieve this by amending the contract, that is, by aligning the domain name’s expiry date in the registry’s system with the maximum 10-year term, which can be a suitable way of complying with the new rules.
It is important to point out here that some cases do not have to be reported. One example is when the client was not aware, or it is not clear from the contract, that the domain was renewed year after year. Nor is a contract amendment needed if the documentation explicitly states annual renewal for an indefinite period.
The registry will notify every registrar and partner of the related reporting obligation in the future – by the summer at the latest – and the declaration can be returned as a questionnaire, following the model of the earlier DRR integration survey.
Importantly, every change in the Domain Registration Rules that requires data to be reported is purely statistical, so there is no need to include specific data, attach contracts or name clients.