
The story of .io - ingve
http://citizen-ex.com/stories/io
======
stvswn
Some additional context from wikipedia: the island was originally 100%
uninhabited in the 19th century when the French brought slaves there. Over the
course of the next century, it was mostly privately owned, and the majority of
residents were employees of plantations who were under temporary contracts and
would return to Mauritania or the Seychelles after the contract was over. Ever
since the slave days, there was a creole population, and that's the relevant
group -- they were not indigenous peoples, but rather freed slaves and their
descendants living on private land. In the 1970s, about 1100 people were
forcibly removed after the British government took control of the island for
the US naval base. They were compensated in cash. I think it's absolutely
reasonable to feel like this was a dirty land grab, but whether they were
really permanent residents, and how many they were, is in dispute. This sort
of falls in the category of eminent domain seizures. I generally have a
problem with those, but I don't spend too much time dwelling on the displaced
populations that resulted from other government land seizures. Should we all
feel guilty when we visit national parks? Or when we drive on highways? Or for
the many military bases throughout the US? Do you think they just happened to
find land with exactly zero residents?

~~~
zyxley
> whether they were really permanent residents

I think it's pretty strange not to think of somebody as a permanent resident
of the place they've lived since birth.

~~~
stvswn
I said it was in dispute, not that I agreed. If you squat on gov't land in the
US and have kids there, would the gov't just cede the land to you after an
appropriate amount of time? Maybe yes, I guess, but it's complicated.

~~~
zyxley
This kind of thing is why adverse possession laws are good for society as a
whole despite the inconvenience they can cause on a personal level.

------
mfkp
Another interesting point is that .io domains started to become more popular
after Google decided to categorize them as Generic ccTLDs [1] (I believe in
2013). Before this, .io domains weren't great because of Google's algorithm
taking region into account, and SEO was nigh impossible.

[1]
[https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/1347922?hl=en](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/1347922?hl=en)

------
BorisMelnik
.IO is truly just a phenomenon that "just happened." It collectively rolled
out and picked up momentum with each new domain registration. I remember a few
years back when I started seeing a few here and there pop up. Right away as an
old school Linux veteran I thought it was cute and "got" the idea. No one
planned this, and even if they did it wasn't the master plan that created the
popularity of .IO.

.IO has only commercialized within the web developer and b2b communities. I'm
not saying that in a negative way, it is however a billion dollar industry at
least. I really appreciate the post from a historical standpoint and hope in
some way the popularity of .io will some way contribute to this territory.

~~~
ricardobeat
> a billion dollar industry at least

The latest stats I could find [1] put the total number of .io domains at
around one million. Even if you assume $100 registration fee (you can get one
for much less), it's still 900m shy of a billion.

[1] [http://blog.park.io/articles/enormous-growth-of-io-
domains/](http://blog.park.io/articles/enormous-growth-of-io-domains/)

~~~
grinnick
How do you buy them for cheaper than $100?

~~~
quarterto
Gandi has them for $35/year. Nic.io itself is £60 for the first year, but it
goes down after a few years (I'm currently paying £30 plus tax).

~~~
keithblaha
currently $32.88/year with namecheap.com

------
tdaltonc
Is there a policy for what happens to ccTLD if a country changes its name or
disappears?

~~~
ryan90v
Check out the story of the .su (Soviet Union) domain:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.su](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.su)
[http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/may/31/ussr-
cyber...](http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/may/31/ussr-
cybercriminals-su-domain-space)

~~~
pavel_lishin
> _The .su domain was invented by the then-19-year-old Finnish student Petri
> Ojala._

"Invented" seems like the wrong word to use here.

~~~
Sir_Cmpwn
Wikipedia is publicly editable. Most people forget that these days.

------
MichaelGG
I don't see what the issue is here, apart from non-DNS things (kicking people
out, etc). If Chagos got autonomy, it wouldn't be keeping .io as its ccTLD -
what sense would that make? And if Britain wants to have .io, they'd just need
some other random island with enough of a presence to justify the country
code.

Phrasing it as if somehow .io belongs to these people is simple intellectual
dishonesty.

~~~
comrh
I think the main point of the article is the country codes are not very
defined in the process of creation, their use and who reaps the rewards of
ownership.

------
amelius
I'm wondering if it is possible for a TLD holder to, at will, seize any
domains below it, and, for example, extort the owners of the domain? And from
that perspective, is it really smart to choose an exotic TLD name?

~~~
SturgeonsLaw
This was a cause for concern in many people's minds with the .ly TLD belonging
to Libya

~~~
duskwuff
The .LY ccTLD is particularly problematic because many countries, including
the US, have trade sanctions in place against Libya. Among other things, this
makes it difficult to get an SSL certificate for a .ly domain.

------
tommd
For obvious reasons, I wanted a `.md` domain but those are expensive... also
for obvious reasons. This is a rather unfortunate and common result of our DNS
system.

~~~
plextoria
And they are also quite pricey for locals too, given our fragile economy.
We're not some inhabited island in the ocean.

------
nickysielicki
I lack an ability to put into words just how much I hate the tone of this
article and the tone of this author. Particularly this last line.

> As we build new worlds with our technologies, knitted from fiber-optic light
> and lines of code, it is incumbent on us to ensure it does not reproduce the
> erasures and abuses of the old, but properly accounts for the rights and
> liberties of every one of us.

Why has every Silicon Valley leftist gotten it into their heads that this
isn't a completely ridiculous statement? We're not superheros or magicians, in
spite of the fact that the technical illiteracy of the rest of society may
make us believe we are. We had some power a decade ago, but we've spent that.
How did we spend it? What do humans historically do with power? They leverage
it!

We pillage and rape the earth. Five million people are dead in the congo so
that we can steal their minerals and ship them to China where a suicidal 9
year old makes it into an iPhone, which is sold at exorbitant prices to lower
and middle class Americans who consume websites that act as Centrifugal
Bumble-Puppies and Orgy-Porgies that we create.

But yeah, the real tragedy is that there's a TLD for an island of 2000 people
who are losing their culture. Techies needs to be aware of THAT and stop THAT
tragedy. Get real.

The only power of the Internet ever held any promise in was allowing fringe
opinions to be heard. Anyone could publish and be heard and read about certain
taboo subjects and not be publicly shamed for entertaining a certain thought.
4chan still holds this sentiment. Reddit did for a while until it decided it
had to make more money. I grew up on that Internet.

It's long dead. Political correctness has killed everything. We had an
opportunity to expose the masses to truly uncontrolled thought and discussion.
We had an opportunity to embrace society-- ALL of society. We had an
opportunity to create forums where we could all try to understand each other.
Yes, that means racists and pedophiles and sexists and dickheads. But we
instead created controlled environments like Facebook and reddit that
represent nothing new and the world will flow on as it always has. We've
created systems that encourage homogeneity in opinion and have marginalized
the same people we always have.

Tech isn't special.

~~~
stvswn
You had me nodding in agreement when I thought you were standing up against
slacktivism and outrage-bait. Then I got puzzled when you started railing
against consumerism and its consequences. Finally I realized you were just
nostalgic for when the internet wasn't mainstream -- as if you are starved for
open forums on today's internet. I think your real issue is that regular
"lower and middle class Americans" are also on your internet, and as such it
reflects society, which you find conformist and boring. Fine, just don't tie
it into some nihilistic rant about how we're all complicit in mass murder
because we consume electronic devices.

~~~
nl
I liked the claim that political correctness killed racism and pedophilia. If
that's the case then I'm all for it!

~~~
nickysielicki
You haven't killed racism or pedophilia, you moron. You've created an
environment where you can continue to misunderstand them. You've continued the
tradition of denying to try to understand them and actually make progress on
the issues.

------
tomjacobs
Isn't it funny that the web has country codes at all? Clearly they're not
being used most of the time for their country code purpose. It seems like a
bit of a mistake to have them. It's right there in the web's name: this web
thing is world wide.

~~~
cimbal
What? Just because .com is wildly more popular than .us doesn't mean that all
>250 ccTLDs are useless.

------
larme
If I had the money I will buy the jupiter.io domain.

------
curiousjorge
.ly seems to be really popular as well for startups although I'm kinda curious
as to the civil war in Libya is going to affect it in the future.

------
clarus
I do not want to offence anyone, but something which is not said by the
article is that the first known inhabitant of this territory were the French.
This place was taken by the British at a time of French weakness, exploiting
the chaos of the Napoleon's defeat. All that to eventually force the
inhabitants out for building a foreign military base, just because
(apparently) the British government did not have the will to develop their own
nuclear weapons.

As a French, I hope some day we will have a brave enough government who:

* tells the British to refuse to have foreign troops occupying a _full_ territory displacing their own people;

* says that the current situation is _wrong_ , and that these territories are supposed to be French, with the same legitimacy as the Réunion. There is no need to go to war or alike for that, but I feel this is something which should be said.

------
quadrangle
Fascinating story.

I personally wish the article had gone a little further into being snarky,
perhaps subtly, in recognizing how stupid, meaningless, unfunny, and unclever
the idea of .io for "in/out" is for domains. Most websites and all computers
do input/output and there's nothing interesting about that fact. I think it's
a dumb trend, and I have an irrational, emotional dislike of the suggestion
that it is good in any way for all these annoying startups and their dumb
domains. _end rant_

~~~
mynameisvlad
Wut? .com is supposed to be for commercial sites only. I see it everywhere,
regardless of if someone is selling something or not. .net is for network
infrastructure, I see it used all the time. Other than strict TLDs like .gov,
they're used for things other than their intended use all the time.

.io is a good way to get a name that would otherwise be taken up by a squatter
while still having some technological tie. The former is really what it's all
about.

~~~
quadrangle
Yeah, and people don't use .com well either. But "commercial" actually is a
reasonable class of site.

Um, strict TLDs like .gov are misused?? What's a .gov site that isn't a
government site? That is actually regulated…

.io is a stupid TLD name (except for actual Indian Ocean sites). I think what
bugs me is "some technological tie" — wut? It's not anything. Input/Output
isn't a nifty technological idea even.

Re: squatters: they could squat on any TLD. The only reason they squat on .com
or .net is because you want it. Now, they will start squatting on .io because
people want that. I don't see the difference.

~~~
pki
I'd argue that maybe things like
[http://davisut4health.gov/](http://davisut4health.gov/) and
[http://bart.gov](http://bart.gov) might not properly belong under .gov?

~~~
duskwuff
BART, the Bay Area Rapid Transit light-rail line, is perfectly appropriate as
a .GOV site. It's administrated as a branch of the California government, with
a Board of Directors elected by residents of the area they serve.

I don't know what davisut4health.gov was, but right now it just appears to be
an alternative URL for the Davis County Library. (And oddly enough, your post
appears to be the only reference to this domain on the Internet!)

------
michaelwww
I'm a Navy veteran and a liberal. The tone of this article really makes me
cringe because not only is it anti-military, it thinks our hearts should bleed
for the so-called "Chagossian people." These types of attitudes give liberals
a really bad name. I'll bet a sizeable percentage of Chagossians were very
happy to get off that god forsaken patch of land in the middle of a vast ocean
and cursed the day their ancestors were ever brought there. The Navy, and it's
sailors, welcome such a place, and given modern realities, it only makes sense
for the U.S. and Britain to make use of this strategic asset.

Any Chagossians complaining now are most likely looking for some sort of
reparations, which most likely does not include being returned to live in the
middle of nowhere on an island prison. It's unfortunate they are living in
poverty in their new home. Giving them some sort of compensation would be
best, but in the history of displaced peoples, that rarely happens.

~~~
TazeTSchnitzel
> I'm a Navy veteran and a liberal.

 _Are_ you a liberal? You seem to be incredibly supportive of the United
States military establishment, which isn't a very liberal position to take.

(Though I suppose it might be by US standards.)

> The tone of this article really makes me cringe because not only is it anti-
> military,

What's wrong with being anti-military? Ignoring absolute pacifism (which has
obvious problems), opposition to the military (and the military-industrial
complex) is a valid political position to hold.

The article isn't "anti-military", anyway. It's not against the US Military,
it's against _these specific actions of_ the US Military. Criticism of
something and opposition to it are different things.

> it thinks our hearts should bleed for the so-called "Chagossian people."

Basic human empathy, is it not? If 2000 people next door to me were kicked out
of their homes, I'd be sad for them too.

> These types of attitudes give liberals a really bad name.

What attitude? Non-unquestioning support of institutions which can and do have
flaws, and having human empathy?

Usually, these are valued attributes in people.

> I'll bet a sizeable percentage of Chagossians were very happy to get off
> that god forsaken patch of land in the middle of a vast ocean

Do you have any reason to actually believe this? Why would they enjoy being
kicked out of their home? After all, this "god forsaken patch of land" is
probably not all that different from the "god forsaken patch of land" they
were moving to: Mauritius.

> The Navy, and it's sailors, welcome such a place,

Which has no bearing on how the occupants feel.

> and given modern realities, it only makes sense for the U.S. and Britain to
> make use of this strategic asset.

Well yes, it makes sense from a strategic perspective: the US wishes to remain
a global superpower with control of all the world's oceans. The BIOT is of
strategic importance.

That being said, it has no real bearing on the _morality_ of the action,

> Any Chagossians complaining now are most likely looking for some sort of
> reparations

That's rather cynical of you. People don't forget injustices, they're right to
continue complaining.

> which most likely does not include being returned to live in the middle of
> nowhere on an island prison.

Island prison? I don't think they would have called their old home that.

> It's unfortunate they are living in poverty in their new home.

It's unfortunate. It's also a direct consequence of how the British treated
them when they were evicted.

~~~
michaelwww
I'm suggesting that liberals who don't temper their empathy with practical
realities risked being dismissed as holier-than-thou dreamers. I looked up the
word temper to make sure I it was the right word, because I'm not sure you are
from my culture, and Google suggests it means "their idealism is tempered with
realism." I know it probably feels good to author an article like this one,
but battles must be chosen and this one is kind of ridiculous in the larger
picture of things wrong with the world.

~~~
TazeTSchnitzel
> I'm suggesting that liberals who don't temper their empathy with practical
> realities risked being dismissed as holier-than-thou dreamers.

Okay, but why should they here? Does the US really need to maintain global
dominance for any reason beyond the pursuit of power?

~~~
michaelwww
I'm not here to debate that. I fervently wish we Americans were spending less
money on the military and more on educating our children. I took part in the
military. I understand it's a giant machine (military industrial complex) that
doesn't just wind down in a couple years or even decades without sustained
public pressure.

I'm here to understand the point of this article. If the author were
advocating giving the .io domain fee profits to the Chagossians, I'm all for
it, but I don't see that being advocated. I'm not sure what is being
advocated. It's just a bad article with a lot of hand waving and emotional
appeals that don't really do anything.

~~~
TazeTSchnitzel
> I'm not sure what is being advocated.

Nothing. The article exists to make you think, and consider the history of
this piece of Internet space. It doesn't need to advocate for something.

