In a sense, domain names are similar to (software) patents. They're considered private property. Which is, imho, a very bad idea. It's a kind of legal extortion

In a sense, domain names are similar to (software) patents. They're considered private property. Which is, imho, a very bad idea. It's a kind of legal extortion, just like patent trolls and software patents in general. And unused domain names ownership hurt entrepreneurship the same way patents hurt it.