Those websites will simply register alternate domains… It’s really not a big deal.

Not to derail the discussion but this makes me wonder if anyone here in the US actually uses .us or .co.us instead of .com, .net, .org, .edu, or .gov.

Its funny you mention .su because that’s the exact time IANA learned that it shouldn’t stick around.

https://every.to/p/the-disappearance-of-an-internet-domain

TLDR: .su domains are some of the best places for illegal content on the clearnet to live. And we aren’t talking piracy. We’re talking child porn and snuff films. IANA doesn’t want that smoke again.

That means the British Indian Ocean Territory will cease to exist, along with the .io domain and countless websites.

What will happen is that the International Standard for Organization (ISO) will remove the country code “IO.” IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) which creates and assigns top-level domains, uses this code to determine which top-level country domains should exist. Once ‘IO’ is removed, IANA will start the process of retiring .io, which involves stopping new registrations and the expiration of existing ‘.io domains.‘

I don’t get this: shouldn’t Mauritius gain ownership of .io? Russia has .su, and it’s been over 30 years since the Soviets existed.

[edit] also, since there’s .whateveryouwant these days, why not just make .io a non-country TLD? That’s how it’s used anyway.