mcskoufis - 6:17 pm on Nov 20, 2006 (gmt 0)

From my personal experience this is pure speculation. The default option to register top level domains on most registrars is for one year. I only renew my sites just days before getting expired.

I have sites dominating SERPs which do not loose traffic as the expiry date nears.

I think this debate is similar to the US vs UK hosting debate for websites. It is pure speculation (in my opinion).