[kj4ips]

I've heard a ton of stories about .io, IMO, they play fast and loose in a space where that isn't okay, and they get away with it mostly because they are a ccTLD.

The last time someone I knew had an issue, they had to get a senator to make waves to get anything resolved.

[0x38B]

I regret going with .io for my personal domain name. At the time I thought it was cool, but they've since raised prices and hearing things like this doesn't instill confidence...

[sigio]

That, and the Indian Ocean territory will cease to exist in the (very) near future, so the .io domains might be going the way of the dodo. I won't be registering any new ones at least, and recommending everyone to stay away from them.

[qingcharles]

And isn't .io on borrowed time, since the country will soon no longer exist?

[Suppafly]

Do they get rid of TLDs once the country they are assigned to goes away? I assumed they'd sell them to someone or something.

[foobarchu]

Nobody really knows. There are only a few precedents, i.e. the old Soviet Union .su tld being kept around, or the 2 letter country code that I can't recall which was reassigned to a new country after the old one went out of existence.

There isn't really a precedent for a tld with as many domains under it as .io, it's a very strong possibility it will be kept around and given to a private entity or even to GB.

[hungariantoast]

.cs for Czechoslovakia lasted from 1990 to 1995.

.yu for Yugoslavia ran from 1989 to 2010.

Wikipedia has comprehensive articles on both of those ccTLDs, if you're interested in learning more

[unanimous]

They might not have much of a choice but to shut down all .io domains. This video explains a little: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yJ6AZsUlpc

[account42]

Who is "they".

[TheEnbyperor]

Yes, it will be deleted; see: https://www.iana.org/help/cctld-retirement

[loeg]

.su is still around.

[Vilian]

That's why they are shutting .io to not make the same mistake again