Changes to our website — new .nz rules and .nz registry

Please note: We are currently checking and testing the Domain Name Commission's WHOIS to ensure that it is properly working with the new registry system.

1 November 2022 marks an important day, InternetNZ will deploy the new .nz registry system, It’s a world-class platform that uses industry-standard protocols, and it will be the trusted home for all .nz domains for years to come.

We are also welcoming a new set of .nz Rules, the .nz Rules will provide a more coherent policy framework that is linked in a user-friendly way for parties involved in the .nz domain name space.

The new .nz Rules

InternetNZ has been running the .nz policies review process since 2019. As a result, the different sets of .nz principles and policies in the five existing policy documents have been combined into one document called .nz Rules.

The .nz Rules will provide a more coherent policy framework that is linked in a user-friendly way.

You can find a summary of the most significant changes impacting registrars and proposed action steps on this page. 

You can find the new .nz rules on our website.

New .nz registry

Also, on 1 November 2022, InternetNZ will be migrating and going-live with their new world-class platform that uses industry-standard protocols.

It’s not the first time InternetNZ has moved the .nz registry to a new modern platform. Exactly 20 years ago, in October 2002, the bespoke Shared Registry System, SRS, went live.

We would like to acknowledge InternetNZ and all .nz authorised registrars for their work in this migration and deployment.

Any urgent issues can be raised with .nz registry support.

Changes to our website

What does this mean for the Domain Name Commission?

Over the coming days and weeks, you will see a few minor changes to our website.

Terminology and process changes

There are some changes to terms and definitions in the new .nz rules. The Domian Name Commission team is working through all the content on our website, as well as templates and correspondence we send to make sure that this is still up to date.

We have actively decided to refer to some old terminology for a while just to help people with the transition. For example, whilst “UDAI” as a term no longer exists (as we are now referring to Authorisation Codes), we will continue to use the term UDAI for a little while longer. 

Changes to the WHOIS

For .nz domain names that have the privacy option applied, we will no longer be displaying the registrant's email address. You will be able to contact the registrant via a Message Delivery Form. This is not an anonymous form; you will need to provide an email address to be contacted on. 

In the coming days, we will publish a How Do I guide for this new tool.

There will also be slightly different information published via the WHOIS, and we will work on providing educational information for this in the coming days/ weeks.

Any questions? 

If there are any questions that you have about the changes, or if you see something that needs a bit more explanation, please feel free to reach out to one of the team.