Verisign is now using all un-registered domains for it's own purposes. If you type (for example):
http://asdftfdghjhvn.com
You will get (sometimes) a pop-up ad and (always) a search engine. There are many times more un-registered than registered domains (possibly infinitely so) and Verisign have them all. Forget about the guy who was just prosecuted for having 5,000 mis-type domains - Verisign have billions.
What an abuse of handling the domain registry!
- Frank