Someone forgot to renew NodeJS.org

I do agree with you that sincere language is more likely than sarcastic derision to turn the tide, but you should know that you guys are on the same side.

But you'd be surprised at how many people ignore even postal notices that some registrars send.

What you have to keep in mind is that restoring domains that have expired is a profit center for registrars. [1]

And having incorrect email contact info helps as well since not only does it favor that profit center but it also prevents competitors from soliciting your accounts (as well as preventing spam, right?)

[1] In the case of the nodejs.org domain it was taken offline on the day of expiration. It wasn't deleted it didn't go into redemption. Generally most registrars give some grace period (but if you aren't getting the emails that doesn't really matter, does it?)

There is a new policy being floated by ICANN that addresses these issues. If I can find the link I will post.

Grace period (as you have pointed out somewhat) varies by registrar. The basis for what you are saying is how long a registrar has to delete the domain before they can get their money refunded. That time period is 45 days. So on the expiration date the registrar is automatically charged for the renewal. If they delete on day 45 (by a certain time depending on when registered) they will have their fee refunded. Consequently they can give a grace period if they want of up to 45 days but from a practical standpoint it's tricky to wait until the last minute before deleting (if you have a system problem on day 44 that prevents you from deleting 2000 names you're stuck with them).

After they delete the domain (which can theoretically be anytime and keep in mind that "delete" is different than "take off line" "change ownership" etc.) it goes into redemption.

It is in redemption for 30 days during which only the sponsoring registrar can submit the necessary report to get the domain back. With .com .net .org .info the cost for the registrar to get the name out of redemption is $40 plus the renewal fee.

Once 30 days have past it is in pending delete and goes into a 5 day black hole where nothing happens and not even the sponsoring registrar can get it back. After that 5 day period it's released and anyone can grab it, first come first serve.

nodejs.org as I pointed out elsewhere was simply taken offline. It wasn't "deleted" in the sense that it goes into redemption. From the registrars point of view this makes sense since it allows them (if they want) to charge a fee to restore the domain w/o having to incur any extra ($40) costs.

"the registrars theoretically start dropping the names"

The time the domains drop is not controlled by registrars. It's controlled by the registries. The registrars only control (in addition to other things pointed out) when the domain goes offline or gets "deleted" and enters redemption.

" it enters a 30 day redemption period. Again, apparently this can vary"

Can't vary it's 30 days.