Transferring an already registered domain entails switching the registrar company that handles the domain name registration service, so after the transfer itself, you will have to manage things like renewal payments or DNS record updates through the new domain name registrar. The transfer procedure is standard with most domain extensions. Some country-code extensions are more specific and entail different procedures, but in the general case transferring a domain entails several necessary steps and one of them is unlocking the domain name. The lock is a security feature, which is being embraced by more and more domain name registry operators. It is a standard feature supported by all generic top-level domain names. If a domain is locked, it will be impossible to initiate a transfer procedure, so no one can even attempt to register your domain name. The lock can be removed only through the account where the domain name is registered in the first place and all new domains that support this functionality are locked by default when they are registered.