> The registration costs are also a tiny fraction of what any desirable domain name would sell for on the secondary market

That's rent seeking. They provide no value, they simply try to corner the market and jack up the prices.

Since you're getting downvoted for an honest question, I'll explain: you're confusing the cost of owning a domain with the cost of registering a domain. ICANN and Verisign don't own nor sell domain names, they just perform administrative functions relating to owning and selling them. The gist of this article is that Verisign gave ICANN a kickback to get the right to charge more money without adding more value, which is pretty much what "rent-seeking" means.