.IO will expire!

Discussion in 'Domain Names' started by r1ch11r1ch, Feb 20, 2025.

?

I own .io domains

  1. yes

    1 vote(s)
    50.0%

  2. no

    1 vote(s)
    50.0%
0
  1. #1
    .IO will expire (within the next decade though)

    I haven't found a thread on DP explaining the .io situation, so I thought I write it myself :)
    .io is a ccTLD (country code TLD), so it belongs to the registry of a specific country. In this case the country is an island, named British Indian Ocean Territory with the Internet Computer Bureau Ltd registry. (https://nic.io/)

    Now the problem is that the British Indian Ocean Territory will give authority over the island to the Republic of Mauritius, changing the government of the island. Now According to current IANA rules the .io domain will be required to be phased out, which would take at least 5 years. This depends on whether IO is removed from the ISO 3166-1 standard. Historically, some exceptions have been granted, as was the case for .su.

    What do you think about this situation? Do you own .io domains?
     
    r1ch11r1ch, Feb 20, 2025 IP
    Artisan likes this.
  2. lesseo

    lesseo Greenhorn

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    #2
    It's an important domain name, I wonder what will happen legally.
     
    lesseo, Feb 21, 2025 IP
  3. sarahk

    sarahk iTamer Staff

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    #3
    Ouch, that's going to cause an uproar!
     
    sarahk, Feb 21, 2025 IP
  4. nicenic

    nicenic Banned

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    #4
    Interesting take! History shows most ccTLDs stick around, but it’s worth keeping an eye on.
     
    nicenic, Aug 28, 2025 IP
  5. flip3

    flip3 Active Member

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    #5
    Due to the large adoption of .io TLD, I doubt that it will be discontinued though it would be probably legal.

    .su for Soviet Union can still be registered. Other TLDs such as .zr (Zaire), .tp (Portuguese Timor), .an (Netherlands Antilles), and .yu (Yugoslavia) have been discontinued but likely with very few registered domains.

    Personally, I wouldn't use for my main business website a TLD of a country which might disappear. Same might happen to .tv (Tuvalu) at some point.
     
    flip3, Aug 28, 2025 IP