If a domain name is suppose to expire, say 5/11/02, and you are quite sure (or at least hopeful) it won't be re-registered, how long does it take to be available to the open public?

Thanks for any feedback....

just a suggestion, back order it, and hopefully you'll get an early jump on whoever else wants that domain.

There are no rules when it comes to dropping expired domain names, but some Registrars are consistent in their policy for dropping names.

OpenSRS for example, drops after 45 days (generally).

NetSol however, may keep a domain indefinately.

Some Registrars auto-renew the domain name and then try to collect from the customer. This may mean the domain does not expire and drop for many months - and since the Registrar has paid his $6 to Verisign - the Registrar can then auction the domain or sell it on the open market if he wants.

ICANN has no policy on dropping expired domain names...

-t

if a registrar does indeed buy an expired domain name for itself and then tries to auction it off, does it auction it at one of the "namebrand" places like afternic, greatdomains, or ebay or does each registrar have its own private auction?

All of the above.

-t

if a registrar does indeed buy an expired domain name for itself and then tries to auction it off, does it auction it at one of the "namebrand" places like afternic, greatdomains, or ebay or does each registrar have its own private auction?

I think that domain registrars are not allowed to do that, but I could be wrong. I have read where network solutions have denied doing this, and I have never seen any examples of them doing this. Although I am not sure of some of the smaller registrars and what they do.

I had a domain that expired on December 13, 2001. I purposely let it go and Network Solutions (the registrar of the domain) continued to hound me on renewing the domain. I received tons of notices about getting a "Final Notice" and actually called them to tell them to stop wasting paper. The person was surprised I didn't want the domain. Just recently, I ran a whois search on the domain and it is now available to the public. So from December through approximately March, isn't all that bad for Network Solutions. Maybe it's because I told them I wasn't interested but even after doing that I still received two more "Final Notices".