Functional website or lose the domain name. This is RIDICULOUS. $4,000... $120,000... $75,000... Such a waste. Just keep adding confusing suffixes, great job Twomey.

I REALLY hate this. I have 4 domains I tried to get...all registered in 2006 and NEVER used. This has to be illegal!!!

The point of domain names is to be able to obtain a domain name that fits an individual or business need. It is NOT to be able to bulk-register every domain name that matches what somebody might want then sell those off to the highest bidder. Please take steps to stop this dispicable practice.

There seems a simple answer. To register a Domain name you need to prove you own the trade mark of that name. Trade mark laws and Domain name ownership need to work together. Our brand is trade marked in many countries but a creep registered the .com many years ago. Nina R

What kind of sleezy, non-contributing greaseballs park domains for nothing but their selfish, hand-wrenching, mwahaha!, profiteering pleasure? No, really; I'd like to know, so that I can add it to my profile list in my Psychology thesis.

Why don’t they simply make a domain name like a gold lease. You must work it or lose it. Simple give everyone 12 months to make it a fully working web site or you forfeit the name and it becomes available again. Everyone wins, the domain name people get extra revenue, and the general public get the chance to buy domain names that suit their business. Taking a domain name out of circulation benefits no one and restricts the true value of the Internet

My actual name is parked and they want hundreds of dollars for it, and its just parked. This is so wrong ... if it was being used that's one thing, but its simple parked. Thanks for the theft registrar.com.

Companies that sale domain names for millions of dollars continually try to explain that there is a difference between squatting and parking, there is clearly no difference between the two and anyone with half a brain can see that.

I believe that any person/entity interested in purchasing a domain may only do so if provide a service through it. Whether that be a blog to inform people, or a portfolio for your business. Domain squatting is ruining the internet. It's becoming similar to the situation with the housing market.

It is unfair! But more than unfair, it is killing the whole domain registration process. Not only cybersquatters, but companies that snap up dozens of names across all tld's make obtaining a good domain name almost impossible. TLD standards need to be enforced (for example, .net is only for network providers and .org only for organizations) -- and cybersquatters need to be stopped by ending auctions. ICANN should immediately release any domain name that shows up as "for auction", since there is no value in a domain name other than extortion. Domain names that remain "parked" for more than 3 months should also be automatically released back into circulation. If somebody is not legitimately using a domain name, they have no right to keep others from doing so.

I'm no professional, but it seems unfair to me that domains go unused just because of greed...

Could not agree more... :) Here is my petition to add to the cause.. http://ow.ly/eDbxa

The Domain Name Server (DNS) is the Achilles heel of the Web. The important thing is that it's managed responsibly. Tim Berners-Lee

It's wrong that people can hold domain names hostage. THIS IS NOT A REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT! It's just words, and everyone should have the right to use any words they choose without having to pay for it. It's called FREEDOM OF INFORMATION, and it's my first amendment right to free speech that is being blocked!!!

Not to say that I agree with domain parking, but it's so much like an investment in real estate that it's hard to say it's illegal. Ok, so some guy asks you for $500 for a domain that normally costs $30. That guy spent those $30 5 years ago and continued to pay an annual fee for that "real estate". To me, that sounds very much like your typical investment. That's like buying a piece of land in the middle of nowhere and waiting for the nearest city to grow so your land's value will increase. Somehow nobody complains about the cost of land. At some point land was free, so why is it that you pay tens of thousands of $$$$ for a piece of land to build a house on? What, are you going to sue the guy who owned the land because he bought it before you did even though he didn't build a house there? When you own something you have the right to do whatever you want with it. I can charge 10 million dollars for 2 square feet of dirt in front of my house. I'm not forcing anybody to buy the land at that cost. If somebody invests, then it's probably worth it. Same deal with domain names. Now, to get back to the point, I don't like the practice of domain name parking and I think the only way of stopping it is to increase the yearly fee to a point where they cannot afford to sustain such a high number of domains. Then, the domain parkers would have to charge even more in order to keep their business profitable. And when that happens, when somebody asks for 10.000 or 20.000 for a domain name, it's actually cheaper for the end-user to buy the next-best-domain-name and then invest in Adwords.

Domain parking should be treated just like license plates for cars; they are for identification purposes only, and are up for re-use when not re-registered. Domain Parking is tantamount to racketeering. A site name is hijacked and turn-around to be sold to the highest bidder. If a domain is not being legally held in connection with a direct business associated with the site, whether commercial or personal, then it should be legally available just as a non-existing domain name. Imagine if all the millionaires and corporations and went out buying out stores of the most in-demand products and began reselling them at 10 or 100 times the cost. Or imagine if they applied domain parking to baby names and hearing the government office say "We're sorry, that name is already taken however, the owner is willing to sell it because they had a girl instead of a boy and it is no longer needed."

domain parking is **** spam

You're confusing "cybersquatting" with investing in virtual real estate.. When a real estate investor buys a tract of vacant land but doesn't develop or build on it.. does this mean he is squatting.? communist thoughts..

I agree that cybersquatting needs to be addressed. I don't think there needs to be a numeric limit, but a simple solution is that if you don't actively use a domain then it should be released into the public after a period of time.

Are you people high? If you buy a house for $250K and then turn around and sell it for $500K or $1,000,000 ten years later are you house squatting or did you just make a good sound investment?

Cybersquatters... more like cyberextortionists. I just had an unpleasant experience dealing with one. This practice should be outlawed.

was investigating the possibility of grabbing a domain name for my blog. I thought my last name would be nice, which is Hotte. WTF my last name is premium and they want 3k for it. Hotte.net. Go to website.ws, where the TLD participates in keeping the premium name revenue for themselves. Creating the .ws TLD was nothing more than a quick cash grab. There is no point to creating new TLDs until the issue of parking is resolved.

PLEASE! They are stopping us from buying domains at reasonable prices.

Fully agreed. Sitting on a domain name with the sole intent of selling it to a legitimate user is an abuse of the system and should be made illegal.

why is ICANN asleep..wake up..and end cyber terrorism.