My first web hosting company ran away with my domain and I never got it back until it expired [0]. They ran away with 40,000 customers' domains. I had to learn

My first web hosting company ran away with my domain and I never got it back until it expired [0]. They ran away with 40,000 customers' domains. I had to learn how domains expired and catch it. I am thankful I guess, because I got involved with domain catching and made a fair bit of money from buying expired domains. But I don't wish those months of downtime and uncertainty on anyone because the hosting company went under or did something malicious. That isn't to say that registrars are immune either (RegisterFly is an example). But at least that is only 1 layer in many cases, you and the registrar. In that example, ICANN intervened and GoDaddy took over their accounts if I recall correctly. Many web hosting companies have reseller agreements, so you are stuck in between the hosting company and registrar. That can complicate things. Some even put domains in their own name rather than yours. [0] http://www.carrierhotels.com/wiredspace/archives/000148.html http://www.carrierhotels.com/wiredspace/archives/000148.html