On Thu, 8 Jun 2006, Vic Cinc wrote:

> the take up in spaces that have been opened. its a premium space
> with a high value. large companies love being ibm.au rather then
> ibm.com.au

Actually large companies love being ibm.com/au and au.sun.com and 
http://welcome.hp.com/country/au/en/welcome.html

Also, one can register with a trademark or pending trademark. This does 
cost $120 to apply plus $300 when registered, so it's not exactly cheap.

Of course, by fiddling the options on the Melbourne IT website, I was able 
to register (or at least get up to the credit card details page) a .com.au 
domain without entering any ABN or other identifying number at all.

James Andrewartha