.io
 | |
| Introduced | 1997 |
|---|---|
| TLD type | Country code top-level domain |
| Status | Active |
| Registry | NIC.IO (run by Internet Computer Bureau) |
| Sponsor | IO Top Level Domain Registry (Cable and Wireless) |
| Intended use | Entities connected with  British Indian Ocean Territory |
| Actual use | Popular with startup companies; little of anything related to the territory itself. |
| Registration restrictions | None for 2nd level registrations; 3rd level registrant must be resident of British Indian Ocean Territory |
| Structure | Registrations are taken directly at the second level or at third level beneath various 2nd-level labels |
| Documents | Terms & Conditions; Rules |
| Dispute policies | Dispute Resolution Policy |
| DNSSEC | yes |
| Registry website | NIC.IO |
.io is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for the British Indian Ocean Territory. Internationalized domain names may also be registered.[1]
Other than the militarized atoll of Diego Garcia, the territory has been uninhabited since the existing population was evacuated in 1973 and has no government of its own. Google currently treats .io as a generic top-level domain (gTLD) because "users and webmasters frequently see [the domain] more generic than country-targeted".[2]
.io domains are popular with new startup companies.[3] IO is also used in IT as an abbreviation for input/output, which makes the .io domain useful for domain hacks. IO also stands as an abbreviation for Internet Organization. In addition, .io domains are often used for open source projects and online services.[4]
Controversy
 |
While .tv brings in millions of dollars each year for the tiny South Pacific island nation of Tuvalu, and .me benefits Montenegro, the people of the British Indian Ocean Territory, or the Chagos Islands, have no such luck. Indeed, profits from the sale of each .io domain flow to the very force that expelled the Chagossian or Ilois people from their equatorial land just a generation or two ago: the British government. In the 1960s, the U.S. decided it wanted a military base in the Indian Ocean, and it asked the British to provide unpopulated land. The U.K. dutifully detached the Chagos Islands from Mauritius, which was about to become independent, created the “British Indian Ocean Territory” and in 1966 granted the U.S. a 50-year lease to the Diego Garcia atoll, where a military base was constructed. That facility would decades later become central to the “War on Terror” as a bomber base and secret CIA prison.[5]
References
- ^ IDN Code Points Policy for the .IO Top Level Domain (PDF), NIC.IO
- ^ "Geotargetable domains". Google. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
- ^ "Popularity with startups".
- ^ Beattie, Russell (2013-02-12). "The rise of .io domains for well crafted web services". Retrieved 2014-04-24.
There's lots of open source projects (Redis, Brackets, Launcher), a few mobile-app landing pages (Avocado, X-Ray), a ton of new web apps and services, several conference pages (Lightning, Renaissance, Resonate) and a few older companies or organizations who've changed their name to take advantage of a cleaner .io name.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "The dark side of .io: How the U.K. is making web domain profits from a shady Cold War land deal".
External links
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