Sadly, the current nature of domain protection law means either one has to scare the squatter (doesn't work,) find a squatter with a heart of gold (doesn't exist,) or get a new domain. :(
In other words, it appears that this domain was stolen, and the rightful owner does have recourse in that case.
Edit: Their twitter seems to confirm that this was not an expiration problem.
Squatters usually don't have trademarks as it's not cost effective, so they're likely to lose on an appeal. There is a cost associated with this option but it can be less than paying a huge ransom fee.
Now you have evidence of criminal intent. Someone took something through false manipulation of a system, then attempted to set a price to give you your own things back.
And they chose a price that's well into the serious range for just about every country (in the United States that's felony grand larceny.)