I quickly looked through their TOS for both
auctions and for
registrations, and I was not able to find anything that could be used to justify GoDaddy's actions (doesn't mean it's not hidden in there somewhere though - can anybody else spot it?). What I did notice is that they say, in a number of places, that they are not responsible for un-renewed domains. For example:
"You agree that GoDaddy will not be responsible for cancelled domain names that you fail to renew in the timeframes indicated in this Agreement."
They also say if there is any payment mess up, GoDaddy has no responsibility ("If for any reason GoDaddy is not able to take the payment from the Payment Method you have on file, and you fail to respond to our notices, your domain name registration will expire").
On the 30 day redemption period:
If you do not redeem your domain name prior to the end of the 30-day redemption period GoDaddy may, in its sole discretion, delete your domain name or transfer it to another registrant on your behalf.
I don't see how these can be interpreted as we may take responsibility for your un-renewed domains, and take them from another registrants account 17 days after the redemption period has ended. Their own TOS seem to say the opposite of what they are claiming.
GoDaddy also breached their
change of registrant agreement TOS in the manner in which they took back the domain (via the account change, rather than renewal method). This is how the change of registrant should have taken place:
The Current Registrant and the New Registrant both agree they are entering into this Agreement of their own free will.
Once the Current Registrant initiates the change of registrant request, GoDaddy will send a confirmation email to both the Current Registrant and the New Registrant. Both parties must acknowledge and explicitly consent to the change of registrant information in order for the changes to be approved.
I did not initiate the change of registrant request. I did not consent to the change of registrant. I was not asked to confirm it. Somebody from GoDaddy went into my account and initiated and approved the domain push on my behalf. GoDaddy says:
Upon completion of the change of registrant transaction, GoDaddy will send an email to both Current/Prior Registrant and the New Registrant confirming the change of registrant contemplated by this Agreement.
The first time I learned of this "change of registrant" was when I got this email.