The masked characters there are not actual length. Now - suppose I want to register the name. Would I be able to sell it? the .com is for sale but apparently hasn't sold.
Would this cause legal issues with the united states government...?
Yes but this doesnt really apply when you have the .US domain tld, it is a sort of a no go, because if you arent American, you arent meant to be registering US domains and if you are it could be seen as a potentially fraudulent and misleading domain.