I know it was my fault because I hesitated in renewing, but I thought there was a grace period after it expired where I could renew. Apparently the grace period started before the expiration. Anyway, about 5 minutes after it expired, someone grabbed it, presumably using the 5 days free feature that registrars. Now when I go to the site, I see a search screen and an email link to get it back. I assume that I would have to pay a considerable amount to get it back. I consider this to be blackmail, so the question is what to do?
Any suggestions?

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Time flies like an arrow.
Fruit flies like a banana.