As many have pointed out, there's no real point to "exploiting" a machine that you already have full (root) access to - with one exception: virtual servers.
The whole 'danger' of this exploit is that it enables a virtual server's "privileged" "root" user to gain hypervisor access, which is equivalent to taking over the entire physical machine and any/all other virtual servers hosted on said machine.
If you don't run a virtual server farm, this exploit means absolutely nothing to you. If you do, it's a very easy, scary way whereby any of your "clients" can take over your physical machines and access all of the other virtual servers hosted on the same piece of hardware.
I think you are right, because I checked again, and only 10 or so domains currently are owned by the State of Kentucky. Yesterday, the number was much higher - over half - and it wasn't a matter of registrar compliance (I don't think the individual registrars had a say in the matter), ICANN was the one who handed control of the domains to the State.
Top Ten Things Overheard At The ANSI C Draft Committee Meetings: (5) All right, who's the wiseguy who stuck this trigraph stuff in here?