The Bleak Future of .io Domains Might Just Impact Us All

Photo by Claudio Testa @claudiotesta on Unsplash

I’m no “tech politician”, I’m simply the regular The Secret Developer. I’ll leave the politics to Elon Musk and continue working on creating great code.

Yet when I hear the .io domain is at risk of getting kicked out of the tech world I believe we all need to sit up and take notice.

So, this article is about why software developers should sit up and take notice of this particular geopolitical issue.

The Chago What?

This is the first time I’ve written a blog post (also featured on my amazing website) that necessitates a Google Maps screenshot, as I’m pretty sure nobody knows where Chagos Archipelago is.

So here it is. Thanks Google!

That just shows the territory in the sea. I’ll zoom out a little.

No problem. I’ll zoom out a little more.

That’s a pretty isolated place.

So, we are talking about a cluster of islands in (not to be too offensive) the middle of nowhere that the British are handing back to Mauritius after their colonial whoops in the 16th and 17th century.

As software developers there isn’t really anything that we would usually care about from such news. The problem is that the .io domain name originates from the islands, and this is an event that may well terminate the domain entirely.

That’s because the .io was assigned to the British Indian Ocean Territory, and it seems the British Indian Ocean Territory will cease to exist and hence the .io domain will be consigned to the trashcan of history.

io Danger

The .io domain is much loved by startups looking for a fun domain, the connection between io and computing being clear (io = input/output, ok?). Most people are aware of the itch.io games site and let me tell you few people want to see browser games go away.

Of course, the future of .io isn’t set. The .su domain is still around despite the Soviet Union no longer being a thing as ICAAN (Internet Coroporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) can make exceptions. However, in this case the link to colonialism means keeping io around might be problematic. So, should developers run out and book those .dev and .app domains?

Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.

Resolutions

Even if .io doesn’t go extinct, a change in ownership could be on the horizon. There’s already a campaign to have .io handed over to the Chagossian people. With Mauritius now holding the reins, that campaign might gain more momentum. But don’t expect it to be a simple affair.

The .io registry is managed by a private UK company, which is itself owned by an Irish firm, which in turn is owned by U.S.-based Identity Digital. And — shocker — they made nearly $40 million in revenue from .io domains last year. Why would they relinquish control willingly? They won’t.

ICANN doesn’t generally force a registry to change hands without consent from the losing party. Just look at the island nation of Niue, which has been trying (and failing) to gain control of its own .nu domain for over two decades. But this time, there’s a twist: if Mauritius, now backed by an actual government, pushes hard enough, things could get interesting. That might just mean that those domains get more difficult to use, expensive or change in some way we don’t expect.

So, it’s time to take action.

What Should Developers Do?

Don’t get caught flat-footed and start thinking about contingencies. Although if .io does get reassigned or phased out, it’ll probably be a slow, drawn-out affair with plenty of warning it doesn’t hurt to have a more long-term plan.

Here’s the rub. We aren’t all Elon Musk willing or able to get political. Yet .io and it’s connections with colonialism might not be the type of image you would like for your wellness startup. If you think all publicity is good publicity, you’re in for a rude awakening.

As developers we like certainty. .io used to be part of the culture and emblematic of a startup marketing culture. However the sands are shifting, and it’s unclear where they will settle. So, stay prepared, study that Google Maps map and make sure that you are not caught in the crossfire of geopolitical change.

Conclusion

Although we are all able to handle the transition from PHP to Node.js, I’m not sure the handing over of islands is as simple. So, we need to try to survive this political change as we would any tech change — by rolling with the changes.