I already own a domain based on my name. I have a low grade fear of someone taking the domain, either through underhanded means, or by bullying through legal means. I've had my domain more than a decade. There is at least one online business that has since cropped up recently, that uses all the words of my domain as the words in their apparent business name.
Losing my domain would be a nightmare. It's my identity (and after 10+ years it feels as much like my identity as my given name), and it's a key to passwords for almost all my business relationships.
You might want to read another article at this site - http://securityskeptic.typepad.com/the-security-skeptic/2009... - it describes the documentation you should keep to prove the domain is yours in case it's hijacked. I imagine some of the same information would be useful.
Also, I hope you don't really mena "key to passwords" in the literal sense:-)
2. Email continues to trickle in to the domain thief, addressed to me.
3. Thief gleans various web sites and businesses that I have a relationship with.
4. Thief begins to ask for password resets all over town.
4a. My bank sends email that a bill has been paid. Thief gets to work guessing my security question, or just calls the bank and talks his way into my account. I am sometimes amazed just how easy it is to get my bank to talk to me about my account over the phone, no doubt because they don't want to piss me off.
Losing my domain would be a nightmare. It's my identity (and after 10+ years it feels as much like my identity as my given name), and it's a key to passwords for almost all my business relationships.