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Indeed, it's through Biden that the RIAA/MPAA infiltrated the Justice Dept with their lawyers:
http://gizmodo.com/5146966/riaa-and-bsas-favorite-lawyers-taking-top-department-of-justice-posts

And also I believe it is under Obama that I saw the first domains "seized by government" screens but not 100% sure:
http://www.domainnamenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Screen-shot-2010-07-02-at-4.11.43-PM.png

Al Gore's wife in the 90s and Hillary Clinton in the 00s also wanted some type of ban on violent video games "for the children". Republicans do suck on a lot of things but the Democrats take the cake here as well.

That's not squatting.

What isn't squatting?

Simply put, squatting is limited to registering vreizon.com then putting up cell phone ads. Wanting cars.com just because you want it, doesn't make the owner a squatter (even if the domain is parked or has no content). Nor is the person who registers a domain, then someone else comes along and files a trademark on the term for UDRP purposes.

Similar to real estate, domain names are property and operate under the concept of capitalism.

Domain names are IP not RP. Economically speaking, it is very different from real estate. Real estate is finite, expensive, and owned permanently unless transferred. Domain names are infinite, cheap, and are only available for rent.

It seems like almost every English dictionary word is registered as a domain right now. Any domain that expires is immediately snatched up by squatters. This is an unfortunate problem.

I was speaking in terms of how the courts view domains:
http://news.cnet.com/2100-1023-223597.html

More recently, where all this is headed:
http://www.domainnamenews.com/legal-issues/are-domain-names-considered-property-or-not/2917

Btw, you can do the same as the "squatters". Just go to namejet.com or snapnames.com and bid for the names you want. There's nothing magical about the process, when a name drops it goes into auction. If it's a good name then expect to pay many thousands of dollars to outbid the others that want it. Doesn't get more fair than that.

And even if you applied for a trademark after the fact, (theoretically) it holds no water in the UDRP process.

The UDRP process is almost exclusively based on trademarks. While I'm not aware of any specific cases, it seems unlikely that a trademark holder would be denied the right to a domain against a squatter who had no trademark at all.

For reference, scan through dnw.com sometime (not my site). UDRPs are denied all the time because the claimant registers a trademark on a term, then tries to hijack the exact match domain from someone who registered the domain name earlier. As a matter of fact, there is a penalty for such behavior called 'reverse domain name hijacking'. Unfortunately it's not enforced enough.

Domains are valuable. If you want to direct your frustration at anyone, direct it at the corps and deep pockets that are trying to corrupt the whole process. If you own a good name you're automatically a target for defending it. And all the costs associated with the defense.

Nope. I usually use j.mp, which is bit.ly's lesser-known, two-characters-shorter version. But for even shorter, there's to.

> I hope ICANN reconsiders and returns to latin+numbers only addresses.

ICANN is in the business of hyping domain name sales and cashing in on it. Look at their TLD selloff. Applying needs a $185K non-refundable "application fee" which ICANN claim they need to cover their oveheads. Justified if they read applications while drinking Dom Pérignon from a gold slipper. The only way to convince ICANN not to do something is to convince them it won't make them money. Speculators and squatters are still out there, so no chance!

http://www.mindsandmachines.com/2010/01/icanns-credibility-in-the-balance-are-new-tlds-going-to-happen/
http://www.domainnamenews.com/up-to-the-minute/businesses-urge-icann-initiate-gtlds-delay/6121
http://domainnamewire.com/2009/02/25/icann-to-study-price-caps-on-domain-registrations/
http://www.dnforum.com/f17/icann-irt-final-report-abomination-wholly-unbalanced-thread-369416.html

TFA:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/10432404.stm

Is anybody else in shock that there is actually a website devoted entirely to Domain Name News?

Right. Still returning correct data but collecting logs of names that don't exist so they can sell them to all those wacky people who register everything udner the sun and park adverts on it (I hate that). A story about this was /.'ed back in October but it was Verisign selling the data to third parties. http://www.domainnamenews.com/editorial/verisign-to-profit-from-rootserver-data/889

I wonder if this will also make Network Solutions think twice about registering a domain every time a whois search is done on their site so that you can not register that domain at any other registrar?

You sure that's not just another example of automatic domain-tasting?

What's up with this? That's a new error message on me.