I have found a domain that I would like to register, and a WHOIS revealed that it expired on October 28th. Does anyone know how long it takes for register.com to allow others to register domains once their contracts have expired? Also, do you think it would be wiser to try to bargain with the owner now for a domain transfer, or should I just wait and see if I can pick it up. Thanks for any input:)

it depends. Network Solutions has held a domain name for over a year now but sometimes they can drop domain names in a month.

I wanted to register a domain with register.com that was over the expiry date by 2 months and 2weeks. I called register.com and asked them if they could release the name for me, and they said they couldn't but to keep watching it as it was due to be released any day now. I checked it again about 6 hours later and it was already owned by some domain name re-seller in Hong Kong.
If the name is a good one, and you really want it bad, you have to be on your toes, and check it every couple hours it seems.

Ivan
Capitalhosting.ca:)

Typically nsi will drop the name after 35 days. If it has not dropped then it may have been placed on "special" which basically gives the domain owner a little extra time. I have seen them expired for over a year which means that nsi has probably overlooked the domain.

Then there are those domain name grabber sites like snapnames which seem like a giant bag of horse crap if you ask me. Diagram: http://www.snapnames.com/deleteprocess.html - how they (or anyone) gets to somehow 'get there first' is beyond me. If they can get there first, so should I without having to pay more, but that isn't how the domain reg. business goes.

This came from my registrar regarding the new biz names:
Are you willing to pay more to jump to the front of the line?

You can establish priority for your most important purchases by adding a high dollar value to the registration. For example, you need to register mycompany.biz. You give mycompany.biz a $100 value. By doing so you agree to pay $100 per year for a two year registration. The moment the registry opens we will attempt to register mycompany.biz before any name with a dollar value of $99 or less.
Whatever. Giant crock of crapola if you ask me. I guess it is just like most things (money driven), and it shouldn't surprise me but for some reason I'm annoyed.