Anecdotally, this type of behavior seemed to be the norm in the late 90s / early 2000s. I remember having a domain my parents' had registered for their busines

Anecdotally, this type of behavior seemed to be the norm in the late 90s / early 2000s. I remember having a domain my parents' had registered for their business. My parents forgot to pay the bill on it one year, and the registrar (don't remember which) bought it up, and wanted some huge "fee" in the hundreds of dollar range before giving it back. It's akin to the overdraft fees banks charge: charging ridiculous prices for a "service" the customer didn't even ask for.