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Are you using an .io domain to host your services? It might be going away soon™.
Main Post:
Well, "soon" in Valve time.
.io is not a gTLD, but a ccTLD belonging to a “country” known as British Indian Ocean Territory, consisting mainly of Chagos Archipelago.
Due to a recent deal to transfer the sovereignty of Chagos Archipelago back to Mauritius in an effort to begin to right a historic wrong, it is quite likely that the entity known as British Indian Ocean Territory will cease to exist, and with it, if Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) is to be believed, the .io ccTLD itself.
Now, will IANA simply turn off the tap on all the .io domains? Who knows. They're supposed to. There will be a transition period and all.
.io is, as we all know, quite popular TLD, and the vast majority of its uses are unrelated to the Indian Ocean territories. It'd be silly to just shut it down like the much less popular .yu and .su, but unless something changes, this is what the rules say is supposed to happen.
So, there is no reason to panic. It'll be years until there is any real impact, if ever.
But, if you're buying a new domain today, maybe steer clear from an .io domain for now.
Or if you've got a 15-year-old mail server that never gets blocked by the Big Tech because it has an impeccable reputation, it might be the time to consider what your off-ramp will be in 5 years time should worse come to worst.
If you've not had your fill of the exciting world of ccTLD news, you may peruse either the official IANA ccTLD retirement policy or have a gander at the Every Newsletter article which, as far as I can tell, blew the lid on this story.
Top Comment: When I was looking, for home purposes .io was too expensive to consider compared to good old .com and other generic TLDs. Having said that, considering the popularity of .io especially in the tech and startup sector, what are the chances of it being converted to a gTLD?
IO domains might be going away
Main Post:
https://every.to/p/the-disappearance-of-an-internet-domain
Since 1968, the UK and U.S have operated a major military base on the Chagos Islands (officially known as the British Indian Ocean Territory) , but the neighboring nation of Mauritius has always disputed British sovereignty over them. The Mauritian government has long argued that the British illegally retained control when Mauritius gained independence. It has taken over 50 years, but that dispute has finally been resolved. In return for a 99-year lease for the military base, the islands will become part of Mauritius.
Once this treaty is signed, the British Indian Ocean Territory will cease to exist. Various international bodies will update their records. In particular, the International Standard for Organization (ISO) will remove country code “IO” from its specification. The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), which creates and delegates top-level domains, uses this specification to determine which top-level country domains should exist. Once IO is removed, the IANA will refuse to allow any new registrations with a .io domain. It will also automatically begin the process of retiring existing ones.
Top Comment: Damn that's crazy. I guess that's why .com is king, it isn't going away...