You are not forcing them to own it defensively. For $2k - less than pocket money for Google - they can register their trademark with the ICANN which prevents others from applying for it.
The explanation you gave still requires paying money, again, as a purely defensive move. Fine, you don't care about Google since it has so much "pocket money" laying around. How about startups that can't afford to throw 2K around every time ICANN decides to add TLDs?
"every time ICANN decides to add TLDs"? There are Top-Level Domains. You can't go any higher without knocking everything else down a level. ICANN has already decided that the top-level namespace is up for grabs, and the $2K fee is a one-time payment to protect your mark. Am I missing something? How can they "decide to add TLDs again?"
