Applying to be an Accredited Channel Partner

To apply for Accredited Channel Partner tag status you will need to either apply for a new tag or reclassify an existing tag via Online Services. You will be asked to provide information on the following areas.

All tag classifications:

• How you meet the customer service level commitments set out in the Registry-Registrar Agreement (RRA)
• How you make customers aware of your complaints procedures
• How you make customers aware of Terms and Conditions
• How you provide the required information on your customer website
• How you provide a contact for reporting websites considered abusive
• How you ensure your resellers comply with the standards in the RRA
• What connections you have with other registrars

Accredited Channel Partners only:

• What insurance you have in place to cover yourself and registrants in case anything goes wrong
• Your business continuity statement, setting out your approach to this and what measures you have in place
• Your data quality processes, setting out how you will comply with Nominet’s Data Quality Policy
• How you gain explicit registrant consent to transfer expired domains into your own name

Data Quality Policy obligations for Accredited Channel Partners

As an Accredited Channel Partner you will have specific obligations under our Data Quality Policy.

As part of your application for Accredited Channel Partner status we ask for details about the data quality processes you have in place, and we will refer to them in the event that a complaint is received or as part of regular Registrar Reviews.

Data Validation

Nominet will attempt to validate the name and address for all new registrations and changes you submit.  Where we are unable to do so, you are responsible for the validation of the data and you should ensure that you have appropriate processes in place. You must contact the registrant to correct the data or validate the accuracy of the data through your own data checks or checks against 3rd party sources. For full details see data validation process and How does Nominet monitor compliance?

The action you take depends on the outcome of your investigations:

1. If you have determined that the details are valid, no further action is required by you. However, you may choose to confirm to us that you have been successful in your validation. This will result in the WHOIS entry showing as ‘validated by registrar’ immediately, rather than ‘awaiting validation’ for 30 days. Please see the EPP instructions on how to positively validate records.
2. If you have determined that the details need to be corrected, you should do so in the normal manner; or
3. If you have not been able to determine that the details are valid, you must apply a data quality lock within 30 days of our initial notification to you. This will suspend the domain name from the date the lock is applied.
4. Accredited Channel Partners have the optional facility to delete domain names suspended for poor data quality. Please see the EPP instructions for details on how to do this. You can also perform this function through the Web Domain Manager. Domain names with a data quality lock cannot be renewed and if not deleted by the registrar will be deleted by us in the usual way approximately 90 days after expiry.