After recently moving my Domain name to a new provider I completed a quick evaluation of some of the “value-added” services that you can use with a registered domain name.  Typical services such as Secret Registration, Domain-Locking, contact managers, and priority support options all surfaced.

Perhaps one less popular option I came across was the Registry-Lock status that can be placed on a domain name.  You may be more familiar with the commonly used Registrar-Lock option which prevents a domain name from being transferred-out to another provider without the lock first being removed.

In contrast, the Registry-Lock facility appears to be an option that very few accredited domain registrars provide to their customers.  A recent inquiry to DynDNS (a major DNS provider that is also an accredited domain registrar) resulted in a response indicating that such a service was not required nor available from them.  It appears that other Domain providers tend to differ on the subject with a small subset actively advertising the service.  In my Research I immediately found a few companies advertising the Registry-Lock on their websites; Verisign, Buydomains.com, and Neustar Registry Services. (more…)