Ask HN: Why isn't domain squatting illegal?

Re:Ask HN: Why isn't domain squatting illegal? by rpiguy on Thursday August 08, 2019 @08:41AM (#20643951)

Why can investors buy land and leave it undeveloped until there is an opportunity for profit? It is the same concept. The land is unproductive until somebody wants to live on it, or build their business on it.

It is true that many communities in the US have property taxes, which has an interesting effect. It makes it so only wealthy people can own and hold un-used land, because most middle and lower income folks could not afford to pay property taxes on land just to hold it.

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Re:Ask HN: Why isn't domain squatting illegal? by cyptus on Thursday August 08, 2019 @08:45AM (#20643972)

you are right its the same thing, only that land is much more expensive in more sought areas.

domains are always at the same value when you register it (for each tld). this makes it easy for squatting-companies to register a huge amount and stop other business from using this names for their company.

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Re:Ask HN: Why isn't domain squatting illegal? by rpiguy on Thursday August 08, 2019 @09:06AM (#20644110)

Arbitrage is a foundational aspect of capitalism there is no legal argument to be made against squatters unless laws are changed. I agree it would be more fair if the domain registry could predict the future value of domains and charge more for them to the investors.

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