Why does ICANN allow cybersquatting?

[dan]

It seems that cybersquatters contribute nothing and, in fact, even work to counter innovation on the web. I suspect ICANN could find ways, other than their current very weak trademark protection, to find ways to end cybersquatting.

Should ICANN do something? Is this just free market at work like real estate investing? I can kinda see both sides, but the predatory and unethical practices of it seems like it would warrant action.

I'd love some insights on this .... thanks!

[bcnu]

A registered trademark at least demonstrates that the junior applicant for a domain name has at least SOME proprietary claim to the string of characters in the domain name.

There are billions of unused domain names; the fact that someone happens to have already registered one that looks like a trademark is really neither here nor there. A domain name is not a trademark -- it is a globally unique internet address identifier. A trademark, on the other hand, can be used by dozens of different companies in different fields, all over the world, without (in theory) infringing anyone's trademark rights.

Say there is a "disney.com" domain name. Nothing prevents you from registering "this-is-not-that-other-famous-disney.com" or anything else up to 63 characters long (using a-z, 0-9, or hyphen).

I suppose ICANN could require registrars to at least look at the local trademark registrations before allowing someone not already owning the trademark to register a similar domain name, but trademark registration is completely optional in many countries, including the USA and Canada. No search is really feasible when the trademarks are not in a central suppository of any kind. Would tuvalu (.tv) care about a trademark registered for a laundromat in Wyoming? Why should they?