Yeah, and if a fly lands on a 747 it will go down in flames! Where do people come up with these stories?

I think we are missing the point here: I am a "patent" (read, IP) attorney. While I believe in patents, when used in the way that the founding fathers intended in the US Constitution, Congress (which often does good things, and often does incredibly stupid things) provided that the USPTO be funded by the FEES they charge applicants! So, Congress is constantly pushing the USPTO to be big and efficient, and the USPTO can do this only if they collect FEES - this is a recipe for disaster, or at least, for a "take-over" by big corporations (which pay most of the FEES). We need public funding of the USPTO, as well as campaign finance reform.

I am a patent attorney (patents and trademarks). Recently a client had a similar problem, and I advised her to contact the trademark owner (who was not a cybersquatter, but this is otherwise similar). When she was told the price, I advised her to counter with what she would pay (making it clear that she could use another mark if the price was higher, but "somewhat preferred" that mark). It worked, and she is now one happy camper. The alternative is to complain to the Trademark Office and ask that the mark be revoked, then see if they will issue it to you - but I advise against going to court (but then I always advise against going to court - I'm biased, I guess).

Actually, they won't have too much to do. If a solar flare hits on the way to or from Mars, they will be parachuting in dead astronauts; less of a problem than living people.

If I read this correctly, Mr. Rex seems to be saying that the problems due to the economy are unique to open source (true, others don't depend on contributions, but they do depend on sales, which are similarly impacted). If that is what he meant, he is the one who has a problem.

Yes, and I made sure I could prove this, as well as being sure I made objections, giving reasons and making sure I could prove that also (copies of emails, mostly). When they proceeded as threatened, I sued for retaliation (I think that is available in states generally, but I am not sure). The money was very good, though I agreed not to disclose the terms of the settlement - think large numbers.