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Is there a difference between buying and registering domain names?

You can go to dozens of sites and register a domain for $5-25/year, but I've seen auctions for $500+ k domains. Is this just a fee for transfering the registration? When you 'buy' a domain, is it yours forever until you sell it? Who exactly are you 'registering' a domain with? I'm sure the for profit companies like GoDaddy aren't regulatory bodies, so when you register it... where does that go? Does anyone here _know_ the answers? Or know where I can find them? Thanks in advance.

Public Comments

1. Buying it, gives you the right to use a pre-existing name. If theres a name you want, you could find the owner and make them an offer for the name. Registering it, put it on the internet for people to be able to get to. Registration goes by a year, usually, and has to be renewed. Please note, if you let the registration run out, somebody else can pay the registration fees, then they 'own' or have the right to use it.
2. Buying and registering are for all intents and purposes the same thing. -- You can't buy it unless it's registered in your name. You can't register it in your name unless you've paid for it. The regulatory body is: Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) http://www.icann.org/ From their ABOUT page: http://www.icann.org/about/ ICANN was formed in 1998. It is a not-for-profit partnership of people from all over the world dedicated to keeping the Internet secure, stable and interoperable. It promotes competition and develops policy on the Internet’s unique identifiers. So GoDaddy is basically a middle man. Go Daddy and Other hosting company's are merely charging you a nominal fee to process your request, and file it with ICANN. I think ICANN only charges like $2 for a domain. Once you register a domain, you have to pay a yearly fee to KEEP it in your name. If you let the name lapse.. someone else could come along and snatch it from under you...and then you might have to pay them whatever they want to get it back. Lukily, you can pay for multiple years in advance, usually at a discount. The $500+ cost you see is when a private company or party already owns a particular domain name and is offering it for sale. -- The seller can charge whatever they want to transfer it it into your name. The more desireable the name.. the more money they will charge. Think about it.. if someone was smart enough to buy "www.walmart.com" and hold onto it for years.. I bet Walmart would pay them $100,00.00 for that name, to make it easier for shoppers to find their site. This has led to the practice of "domain speculation" similar to Real Estate Investors buying a house or land on speculation that it will become valueable in the future. (like on the edge of town or in a new area where a shopping mall might be put) This is also sometimes called "Domain Name Camping" because the speculator essentially buys the domain and then sits on it (camps)..'til someone makes them an offer, with no intention of building a REAL website with it. I've even seen sites where all it is a page which says.. "This domain is for sale, please contact ___ if you are interested" As with anything in business... there have been legal battles of Company names and Trademarks. Can Pepsi register Cokea.com and create a webpage about Pepsi or an anti-Coke page?
3. You cannot *buy* a domain name. RFC You are essentially leasing its use for the fee you pay the registrar.