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Will the .io domain cease to exist? | Tuta (tuta.com)

submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/technology

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Still, too much money on .io to be shutdown.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

Maybe. But it's up to ICANN and their rules, money might not be relevant to them, and with .io, there literally isn't a single person or company that uses it "correctly" as country TLDs are primarily intended to be used by entities connected to that country, and the territory has no permanent residents, unlike with .su.
On the flip side, that might work for the case too as well - maybe ICANN decides to make it a generic TLD, like .com or .org instead as it's not really directly connected to a country?
We shall see.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 month ago (1 children)

as country TLDs are primarily intended to be used by entities connected to that country

Primarily, sure, but quite a few of them get abused, check the notes column. A glaring one these days is .ai, as are youtu.be and, of course, goatse.cx.

[–] billiam0202 15 points 1 month ago

Tuvalu make around $10 million a year- about one-sixth of their gdp- from licensing .tv.

[–] jj4211 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

money might not be relevant to them

Hilarious.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Why would how much money Mauritius might or might not make be any relevance to ICANN, a US non-profit?

[–] jj4211 1 points 1 month ago

Because money means influence. Whether it's the nation to benefit or the myriad of US tech companies that want it to stay, or other international interests, it's way too much potential influence and I suspect cannot be ignored for some strict adherence to rules that no one really would care to defend.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Well, they should have chosen a gTld

[+] [email protected] -8 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

So they could just transform .io to a gTLD without causing any downtime.

EDIT: Apparently not that easy :(

[–] anamethatisnt 19 points 1 month ago (1 children)

2.12 Can a New gTLD name be 2 letters?

Applied-for gTLD strings in ASCII must be composed of three or more visually distinct characters. Two-character ASCII strings are not permitted, to avoid conflicting with current and future country-codes based on the ISO 3166-1 standard.

https://newgtlds.icann.org/en/applicants/global-support/faqs/faqs-en

Either way a policy change is needed.

[+] [email protected] -6 points 1 month ago (2 children)

luckily those are their internal rules and now international laws that can't be broken.

THere's literally 0 reason they can't just go "well, this tld is too big. it's generic now"

[–] anamethatisnt 11 points 1 month ago

The profits gained from sales of .io domains has come under increasing scrutiny given that the UK's control over the archipelago itself is under threat.
Chagossian refugee groups (former inhabitants forcibly removed in the 1960s and 1970s) petitioning the UK government for the right of return have recently extended their grievances to the return of the .io domain as well (Chagos Refugees Group United Kingdom et al. vs. Internet Computer Bureau Limited Citation 2021).
Additionally, Mauritius is also attempting to gain control over .io by petitioning IANA for redelegation (Bowcott Citation 2022).
However, while these groups fight for control over the .io domain, a recent UN ruling challenging British sovereignty over the island threatens the existence of the ccTLD itself.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23738871.2023.2238723

While I agree with you in that ICANN will probably save .io through some policy change it isn't as easy as just saying "screw all our policies, this ccTLD is now a gTLD." considering the fighting going on regarding it.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago

international laws that can’t be broken.

You sweet summer child...

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago

.io is just too big to fail.