system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why do we have to buy domain names from companies instead of just claiming it ourselves for free?
gpt
Back in the day, before everyone and his uncle wanted a domain name, before the world wide web, before google, you *could* just ask for a domain name and get it for free. Who did you ask? The National Science Foundation, of all things.  
When domains started getting more popular, the National Science Foundation got tired of doing it, and farmed the process out to anyone who wanted to be a "domain registrar."  
Turns out it's quite a bit of work.