Bret Fausett wrote:
The goal for some TLDs is to maximize revenue as a business model. They don't care who owns IBM.<tld> so long as it's taken.
I think that's a popular misconception. All registrations aren't created equal. A registration in use serves as advertisement for the TLD, while a defensive registration that is pointed to a .COM or simply doesn't resolve reflects negatively on the TLD. I think any registry operator would tell you that REGISTRATION FEE + IN USE ADVERTISING > REGISTRATION FEE.
I'm not sure whether the ad value of IBM.<yourTLD> going to Idaho Bakery Merchants outweighs the value of IBM believing your TLD is important enough to own a domain in it, even as a pointer. (ie, if it's good enough for them to want...) The situation may be better one way or the other, but it's not overwhelmingly so. - Evan