"Database last updated on" - What does that mean?

[domainer700]

I use network solution's WHOIS tool and whenever I lookup a name I get something like this:

Record expires on 25-Sep-2010
Record created on 26-Sep-1998
Database last updated on 02-Oct-2010

I know what the first two lines mean but I am unsure about the last line. Is that the date the name was renewed or what?

I know the question may seem silly but it doesn't exactly say renewal date on it.

Thanks.

 

[Name Trader]

It's the date the owner made any changes to the whois information, including renewal or nameservers.

 

[domainer700]

It's the date the owner made any changes to the whois information, including renewal or nameservers.

Thanx Stub. I kind of figured that... the doubt came when I saw a name available for backorder even though according to the WHOIS for the name it had already been "updated".. which made me think, if the name had already been renewed, how can it be available for backorder?

Thanks again.

 

[Name Trader]

I think that was just the backorder company not being up to date with it's records. BUT. It could be that the domain got renewed by the Registrar, but not by the owner. You need to do your whois lookup at the Registrar's whois in order to be certain when the expiry date is. Because the date of expiry at the Registry can be different to the date of expiry at the Registrar, especially for expired domains for up to 45 days. It's an automatic process between the Registry and Registrar to renew any expired domain. The Registrar will get refunded if the owner doesn't renew, and they request a refund. This is why, on some dropping domains, you see the expiry change back to 1 year earlier.

 

[Erdy]

The domain is not renewed. The whois data was updated by the registrar after the expiry date. The registrars change the contact details to their details when sending domains to pre-release auction.