A-Z glossary

Term

Definition

Registrar Advisory Committee

The elected advisory committee of thee .nz Registrar community  that helps with implementation questions related to .nz policy.

Authorisation

This is the process that domain name providers go through to become accredited to join the .nz industry. 

Authorisation Code (formerly known as a UDAI)

A unique eight-digit code needed to transfer a .nz domain name from one domain name provider to another.

De-authorisation

This is the process where an authorised provider exits the .nz market. This could be by choice or in rare circumstances because of a sanction. 

Authorised provider

Registrar or reseller who has been vetted by the Commission and authorised to sell .nz domain names.

Complainant

A person who lodges a dispute about a domain name.

Conflict of interest

A situation where the person in a position of power or judgment has a personal connection or potential or actual interest in an issue that they are expected to be objective, impartial or neutral. 

Mediators and Experts must disclose any conflicts and both the complainant and the respondent need to agree to continue or else a new Mediator or Expert will be appointed.

Contact information

Registrant name, address, phone number, and email collected at the time of registering a domain name and displayed through a Nz query search of the .nz register. 

Wrong contact information

This is when the information that is listed in the registration record (whois details) is wrong. Having inaccurate or out of date information is a breach of .nz policy, and you will need to update this information now. 

Out of date contact information

This is when the information that is listed in the registration record (whois details) is out of date. It could be that it is an old email address or phone number. It is important that you update this information, as it used to contact you to validate your registration record or if something goes wrong with your domain name.

Data validation

Data validation examines the accuracy and quality of the information sent to us.

This is a procedure conducted to ensure that the information will not compromise the security, stability and resilience of the .nz domain space. Domain name holders may be asked to validate their details as a result of our own motion checks of the register or where individuals report problems with data accuracy to us. 

Dispute Resolution Service

An alternative to litigation that the DNC provides for individuals or companies that wish to dispute a domain name registration may have a better claim. 

Expert determination

One of the steps taken to resolve a dispute over who should be the registrant of a domain name. Generally, an expert's decision would be final and would direct what would happen with the domain name unless there is an appeal. 

Domain Name

A domain name masks a unique numerical string that acts as the address of websites. These addresses must be unique to avoid situations where two people had the same address. It would cause confusion and lead to the Internet malfunctioning if an address was assigned to two different people at the same time.

Conflicted domain name

A conflicted domain name is a domain name that is available on .nz but unable to be registered until issues with its counterparts are resolved. 

Deleted domain name

This is a domain name that has had its registration period cancelled (any website or email address won’t work)

Expired domain name

When a subscription is not renewed after the grace period, then the domain name registration expires. Is the domain name available for registration again?

Renewed domain name

This is a domain name that was in the redemption period that has since had its registration period extended. 

Transferred domain name

This is a domain name that has recently changed domain name providers.

Domain Name Commission (DNC)

This is the organisation that provides oversight of the .nz domain namespace. We keep .nz fair for everyone.

Domain Name System (DNS)

The Domain Name System (DNS) is like the white pages for the Internet – mapping the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses to domain names that are easy to read.

For example, the domain name for this website is dnc.org.nz, and the website is located on a computer server that has the IP address 202.78.240.52.  The DNS translates that domain name into the IP address so that your browser can find the server's location to request the website you want to view.

The DNS was designed early in Internet history and was not designed with security in mind.  Vulnerabilities exist in the DNS that can be exploited, allowing attackers to intercept, re-direct, or modify your Internet traffic. 

DNSSEC was developed in response to these vulnerabilities.

Domain Name System Security Extension (DNSSEC)

The Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) have been developed to improve the Domain Name System's security (DNS) and provide increased protection for activities such as browsing the Internet and email. 

DNSSEC ensures that the website displayed on your computer really is the genuine website that you intended to visit.  It works, in simple terms, by using encoded “keys”, similar to passwords, that your web browser looks up in the DNS to verify that you are viewing the genuine website.

Grace period

After the initial registration or renewal, there is a grace period where the Registrar can reverse the registration term. 

Individual Registrant Privacy Option (IRPO)

A way to keep contact information private for individuals who do not use their registered domains for trade purposes.

Internet

The Internet is the infrastructure that is used mainly to host websites and applications (apps). Think of it as a city and the register that we maintain as an address book listing all the places that data (and people and their eyeballs) need to navigate to.

InternetNZ

The parent company of the DNC is a not-for-profit organisation. InternetNZ is the designated manager for the .nz top-level internet domain, which delegates the DNC regulator function. 

Legal entity

This includes individuals, listed businesses, companies, trusts and sole traders. They have a legal presence as their own entity. Listed businesses and companies etc., all possess a separate legal identity from their shareholders and owners.

Mediation

A form of alternative dispute resolution where an independent natural person can facilitate parties to resolve their dispute. 

Registrant

Is the domain name holder. This is the party that is responsible for the domain names registration information being up to date. 

Registrar

This is a domain name provider. 

Registry

The technical operator within InternetNZ that runs the infrastructure to support .Nz

Unique Domain Authentication ID (UDAI) - now known as an Authorisation Code

A unique eight-digit code needed to transfer a .nz domain name from one Registrar to another.

Uniform Resource Locator (URL)

The address of a worldwide web page 

WHOIS

A query and response protocol that is widely used for querying databases that store the registered users.Nz domain names.

Without prejudice

A legal term meaning that words, actions and evidence presented can’t be relied on in a court of law