GREAT post, Scott. Sadly, I only found it AFTER I just went through the very same thing with GoDaddy who "only" wanted a mere $80.00 for holding my expired domain hostage. I told them what they were doing amounted to extortion and their comeback was, "Well, at least we're not as expensive as Register.com or Network Solutions." So after anteing up (but sayanara GoDaddy!), I Googled, "domain renewal extortion" and found your post. I have to say, I'm glad I'm not the only one and I feel badly for others who'll fall prey to the same type of victimization. I'm looking into a bunch of other low-cost, ethical and reliable registrars. Maybe I'll post a list once I'm done.