Beginning today, ICANN is inviting statements of interest from accredited registrars to act as a transfer provider, ensuring registrants have full access to their domains. That registrar will act as a temporary domain holder and aid in the transfer of domain names to any ICANN-accredited registrar of the registrant’s choice.

“Registrants are our first concern. ICANN is following a very determined approach to returning access to domain name registrants impacted by the collapse of RegisterFly,” said Dr Paul Twomey, ICANN President and CEO.

In order to qualify as a transfer provider, registrars must be ICANN-accredited for at least two years, in compliance with the Registrar Accreditation Agreement, and able to demonstrate that it possesses the technical and financial qualification necessary to operate a registrar with the number of registrations that the applicant will need to manage if it is selected as the services provider.

“ICANN knows that many registrants are anxious for a transfer to occur. We are committed to making sure this process is put in place as quickly as possible,” Twomey said.

“While we understand that this process may be frustrating for some RegisterFly customers, it is the first time that ICANN has had to intercede in such a way and these steps are being taken to ensure that the system introduced works as effectively as possible.”

US Federal Court Judge Manuel J. Real is also requiring RegisterFly to post the following notice on its website immediately:

NOTICE TO CONSUMERS: THE INTERNET CORPORATION FOR ASSIGNED NAMES AND NUMBERS, THE NOT-FOR-PROFIT ENTITY THAT ADMINISTERS THE INTERNET’S DOMAIN NAME SYSTEM, HAS ISSUED A NOTICE OF TERMINATION OF THIS COMPANY’S ACCREDITATION TO SERVE AS AN INTERNET DOMAIN REGISTRAR. PLEASE SEE www.icann.org FOR FURTHER INFORMATION.

As of 11:30 a.m. EST, the notice is not yet posted on the site.