Registrars hoarding domain names?

[Bill McGonigle]

I read another "the Internet is about to collapse" story today, so not 
finding the site that catalogues such predictions and makes fun of the 
pundits, I figured it would be a good idea to put one up.  The domain 
name that came to mind immediately was 'collapse.net'.

So, first stop, firefox - no website there.  Next stop WHOIS... UH WHAT?

Output attached - if you go to register.com and try to register it it 
says it's unavailable but they offer to let you bid on it for $200 or 
more.

This seems entirely unkosher.   I've seen the 60-90 day "grace period" 
holds, but nothing like this.  Anybody see this before?  You'd think 
ICANN would be putting the smackdown on this kind of operation.

-Bill

    Organization:
       register.com
       Unpaid Names Department-R
       575 Eighth Avenue
       New York, NY 10018
       US
       Phone: 212-798-9200
       Fax..: 212-594-9876
       Email: admin at register.com

    Registrar Name....: Register.com
    Registrar Whois...: whois.register.com
    Registrar Homepage: http://www.register.com

    Domain Name: COLLAPSE.NET

       Created on..............: Thu, Oct 07, 2004
       Expires on..............: Wed, May 19, 2004
       Record last updated on..: Sat, Oct 09, 2004


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