> Is this a common thing, where registrars (like Google) basically are now acting like squatters for domains that are actually open? Yes, but it's kind of surp

> Is this a common thing, where registrars (like Google) basically are now acting like squatters for domains that are actually open? Yes, but it's kind of surprising to see Google doing it. I'm a bit shocked TBH. I always considered Charleston Road Registry (Google) to be "safe" in the context of not screwing users, but I guess that was a mistake. Most of the ngTLD registries are run by business and finance people, not product people. IMO the only thing they understand is price discrimination. They're run by the kind of people that would see a dollar bill blowing in the wind and chase it off a cliff. The biggest thing I don't want when registering a domain or managing a brand is uncertainty. However, the registries and ICANN have proven via their actions that registrants are secondary to the registries. The registries can, have, and will change pricing on existing registrants. ICANN allows it as long as it's a uniform pricing change (ie: everyone gets screwed equally). Out of the original CNOBI (com, net, org, biz, info) domains I think .com and .net are the only ones with price controls left. I'm sure there will be effort to remove those in a short sighted money grab. As-is, the only safe TLD is .com. It's the only one with enough registrants to resist getting screwed. All of the new TLDs are a huge risk because you have almost no rights as a registrant. It's sad too. I think the new TLDs could be awesome for the internet if the registries were run by product people who understood that registrants need stability and long term guarantees. If anything they should be lobbying ICANN for price controls because it makes their product better for the customer. I'm sure Ethos Capital will get right on that [1]. Lol. > In January 2021, Ethos Capital acquired Donuts after their failed bid to gain control over the .org internet domain. I think Donuts is by far the largest TLD owner, so that gives an idea of how trustworthy the whole industry is IMO.