Fortune is the latest publication to highlight the uncertainty around .io

There seems to be more and more articles coming out with regards to .io and how the natives of the Chagos Islands want their extension back.

I first wrote about it back in 2015, and then again in July of this year. Fortune is out with another article, the provocative title of, ‘Colonialism’ and crypto claims: Why the .io domain name extension faces an uncertain future“

The article (which is a long one) delves into the history that has been mentioned before, along with what happens to the .IO extension?

Of course people are all over the place, from the article:

According to the Chagossians’ claim, .io domain registrations bring in fees of $10 million each year, and the ccTLD has an overall value of around $50 million.

In February, the Chagossians approached Afilias/ICB in an attempt to get a “fair percentage of the acquisition price” and a cut of past royalties, and to place a Chagossian on ICB’s board, but they were rebuffed.

Afilias/ICB says the dispute over .io’s ownership is a geopolitical matter that falls “outside of our control or involvement.”

“ICB had no involvement in the establishment of the British Indian Ocean Territory or the treatment of its then residents in the 1960s. Nor is ICB a party to the [Chagossians’ African Commission claim] or any other dispute regarding the ownership of the territory,” the company told Fortune in an emailed statement.

There was a mention of how Draw.io switched to Diagrams.net to show they were sensitive to the plight of the Chagossians.

A German lawyer, Florian Hitzelberger, who specializes in Internet law says .io could be subject to “forced retirement” if BIOT is taken off the world’s official list of two-letter country codes. “But it’s not very likely to happen. The Soviet Union collapsed in the early nineties, but its ccTLD .su still exists and has not been removed from the root zone ever since.”

Does all this press make you less interested in buying and holding .io domain names?

Theo wrote today about James Booth selling Sun.io for $49,995. Personally I owned 2, sold them both for a solid profit. I would love to see some greater clarity on the matter, would love to see the Chagossians getting a piece of the action.