How a UK Treaty Could Spell the End of the .io Domain (theverge.com)
- Reference: 0175220135
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/10/09/1440227/how-a-uk-treaty-could-spell-the-end-of-the-io-domain
- Source link: https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/8/24265441/uk-treaty-end-io-domain-chagos-islands
> A treaty finalized by the UK may bring about the end of the .io domain. Last week, the British government announced that it has agreed to give up ownership of the Chagos Islands, a territory in the Indian Ocean it has controlled since 1814 -- [2]relinquishing the .io domain with it .
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> The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) has a process for retiring old country code domains within five years (with the possibility for extensions). The IANA established this rule after the Soviet Union's .su domain lingered after its collapse, becoming a domain commonly used among cybercriminals. Since then, IANA has also had to retire the .yu domain previously used for Yugoslavia, but it remained operational for years following the country's breakup while government websites transitioned to new domains. And while the independent Solomon Islands does have the domain name .sb , where 'B' stands for how it used to be a British protectorate, that domain was registered decades after it achieved independence. The UK still has the inactive .gb domain as well, but it's considering getting rid of it.
[1] https://slashdot.org/~AmiMoJo
[2] https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/8/24265441/uk-treaty-end-io-domain-chagos-islands
So, when those island nations "sink" (Score:1)
... their TLD sinks with them?
Hmm, might want to [1]hedge my bets [wikipedia.org] on the ".tv" domains I was thinking about buying.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change_in_Tuvalu
Now on my to-do list (Score:2)
I rarely pay attention to something like this, but I will have to circle around to my docker and k8s deployments because I recall a few of images referenced in the io TLD. But if the owners just re-register their domains it shouldn't be a problem.
GitHub Pages and Itch Direct (Score:3)
> But if the owners just re-register their domains it shouldn't be a problem.
There are probably way too many inbound links to GitHub Pages (subdomains of github.io) and Itch Direct (subdomains of itch.io) to fix in a reasonable time. Change my mind.
already did for .su and .yu (Score:2)
I remember the .su (soviet union) was a mess handled by the .ru domain people. And I remember the .yu was a mess for years too and multiple new countries that wanted it. IANA were right to make new rules, all the .io domain should disappear in 3-5 years.
Re: (Score:3)
Today we have a framework for new vanity TLDs. .io should be transitioned from a country TLD to a normal vanity TLD and auctioned off to a willing registrar. And maybe give the auction money to the Chagossians although I'm sure that won't happen.
Retiring domains is stupid (Score:3)
Never give up domains that you've used extensively, not as an individual, not as a company and not as a country. It breaks stuff and is a major security risk. Domains are forever, and we should change the system to reflect that. Maybe you can't use the domain unless you pay for the infrastructure to host it, but having to keep paying essentially arbitrary prices for domains just to be able to "own" them is not in line with what domains are and how they are used. Make the upfront price reflect ownership, but stop that everybody-is-a-renter model.
Re: (Score:2)
Domains are forever, and we should change the system to reflect that.
I tend to agree; the policy really should be ccTLDs must continue to operate forever, so long as they have existing domain registrants willing to pay the cost of the registry and willing to organize a registry amongst themselves if necessary to take over the operation, BUT there is also a strong requirement to maintain accurate WHOIS and eliminate Abandoned domains, Abused domains, and domains with Inaccurate whois Registrant info and Cont
Fifty Bucks (Score:2)
At fifty bucks times a zillion it's not going to evaporate.
Perhaps it will become a GTLD and perhaps somebody will pay a small fortune for that property transfer.
If they stubbornly refuse we might just resecede the Indian Stream Republic and call it Independence Operation to save the tech industry.
Maybe we should keep (Score:2)
the .io domain around so we can use it when we have a colony on the innermost of the Galilean Jovian moons.
To two domain, or not to two domain (Score:2)
For .gb the [1]blog post [blog.gov.uk] is nice and clear. It's not clear what's happening, though, as the [2]domain [iana.org] is still around, rather than being retired in 2023.
[1] https://cddo.blog.gov.uk/2022/11/15/is-it-time-to-retire-the-gb-top-level-domain/
[2] https://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/gb.html