Domain: Registration expiration date

Question about dates

[asantos]

Hi,
i was looking for some info of a specific domain and it throws me this data:

This name has EXPIRED, the former whois information is:
"START Former owner info"
...
Creation date: 16 Jul 2004 21:30:37
Expiration date: 16 Jul 2007 21:30:37
...
"END Former owner info"

And then i get this:

updated-date: 2007-07-17
created-date: 2004-07-17
registration-expiration-date: 2008-07-17

Does it mean that the domain expired and some bot automatically grabbed it?

[tim222]

It could mean anything. If you really want the name, keep watching it. Better yet, backorder it from a service that automatically buys the name for you.

Recently I backordered a name that went through a phase exactly like you are describing. The expiration date moved forward a year and I thought someone ele's service got it before mine did. Then much to my surprise, about a week later I got an email from my service saying they had successfully captured the name for me! I thought it might be a mistake, but the domain is still registered in my name.

[asantos]

thanks for the tip!
i placed a backorder on my main registrar.

i was checking the domain info, and right now the owner is the former owner's registrar.

after a little research, i found out that registrars get to hold on to domains after they expire for about 40 days.

of course... according to the whois record, they will hold it for 1 year. isnt that illegal?