From around January 25th 2003, the Verisign registry started displaying the expiry and creation dates for domain names. While this appears to be a good thing, there are a few minor problems with the expiry dates shown.
When a domain passes its expiry date (and is not renewed by the current owner) there is a normal redemption period of 45 days. The registry auto-renews the domain during this redemption period and charges the registrar. The registrar can cancel the auto-renewal and claim a refund from the registry any time during this redemption period.
If a domain was auto-renewed as mentioned above, the registry will show an expiry date that is one year ahead of the actual expiry date. This can be misleading to any one who checks their domain name records using the registry whois server (whois.internic.net, whois.crsnic.net, etc. or at www.internic.net).
It is always better to check the domain records using the actual registrar's whois. If you are using Domain Name Analyzer Professional, simply use the Auto gTLD lookup option (available from the Lookup > Options menu). This will ensure that the expiry date is obtained from the actual registrar whois.
You may also use a software like DomainPunch Pro or Watch My Domains to obtain the domain records from the actual registrar of the domain.
INFO Domain Expiry Date Problem
The Afilias whois server is reportedly showing the registry expiry date and not registrar expiry date. This could be misleading and might cause you to think that you have renewed your domain when in fact you haven't. Please check with your actual domain name registrar for the exact expiry date as currently many registrars do not provide direct whois record data for INFO domains. In some cases you might even need to login to your domain name management area to find the actual expiry date since there is no public method to find the registrar expiry date.
This problem affects all domain name related products that display the registrar expiry date (Watch My Domains Pro, Domain Punch Pro, Domain Name Analyzer Pro, etc.) This affects only domains that are actually past their expiry dates and have not been renewed.
A subsequent update to all the above products will stop displaying the date in the registrar expiry column (only the registry expiry date column will show a date) to avoid confusion.
Monitor the registry status of your domains! Use Domain Status Reporter to track the status (active, registrar-hold, registrar-lock, etc), registry-expiry date, created date, updated date and registrar name of your domains. Click here.
