The .io domain was delegated by theInternet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) to British entrepreneurPaul Kane in 1997 together with the ccTLDs .ac (Ascension Island), .sh (St Helena), and .tm (Turkmenistan). Kane operated them for private benefit under the trade name "Internet Computer Bureau" from 1997 until 2017.[3] In 2014, Kane claimed that "profits are distributed to the authorities for them to operate services as they see fit" and that "Each of the overseas territories has an account and the funds are deposited there because obviously the territories have expenses that they incur and it’s offsetting that." However the UK government has repeatedly stated that this is untrue: “There is no agreement between the UK Government andICB regarding the administration of the .io domain” and "the Government receives no revenues from the sales or administration of this domain."[4][5]The first subdomain was registered under .IO in 1998, whenLevi Strauss & Co. registered the domain levi.io.[6]
In April 2017, Paul Kane sold the Internet Computer Bureau holding company to privately held domain name registry services providerAfilias for $70.17m in cash.[7]
In July 2017, a security issue with the .io domain occurred when a security researcher managed to take control of four of the seven authoritativename servers for the domain, which potentially would have given them control of all theDNS traffic for the domain.[8]
In December 2020, Afilias' owner Hal Lubsen sold it to privately heldDonuts for an undisclosed sum.[9]
One month later, in January 2021, Donuts was acquired by private equity firmEthos Capital, again for an undisclosed sum.[9]
In 2021, the United Nations'International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea ruled that the United Kingdom has no sovereignty over theChagos Archipelago, and that sovereignty instead belongs toMauritius. This would extinguish the British Indian Ocean Territory, and the IOISO-3166 two-letter country code and .io domain could also be extinguished. The United Kingdom, which was not a party to the case, disputes and does not recognise the tribunal's decision, so further legal processes are likely.[10][11] In 2022, the Mauritian government was considering how to progress with the issue.[12] In October 2024, the UK announced that it would hand over sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius once a treaty is finalised.[13]
In July 2021, theChagos Refugees Group UK submitted a complaint to the Irish government against domain-name speculators Paul Kane andAfilias, seeking repatriation of the .IO ("Indian Ocean") country-code top-level domain and payment of back royalties from the $7m/year in revenue generated by the domain.[14] While attempts to repatriate top-level domains are not uncommon, this one is notable in that it cites consumer and human rights violations of theOECD's 2011Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises rather thanmultistakeholder representation underICANN policy, and because the .io domain has enjoyed commercial success, particularly amongcryptocurrency companies, with more than 270,000 domains registered.[7][15][16]
In October 2024, theUnited Kingdom announced that it would eventually cede theBritish Indian Ocean Territory toMauritius, while maintaining the military base on Diego Garcia via an initial 99-year lease.[17] After the transfer, current IANA rules may require the .io domain to be phased out, which would take at least 5 years. This depends on whether IO is removed from the ISO 3166-1 standard.[18][19][20] Historically, some exceptions have been granted, as was the case for.su.[19] The deal for handing back the Chagos Islands to Mauritius was put on hold by the United Kingdom government following the2024 United States presidential election to allow consideration from thenew incoming United States administration.[21]
Individuals and organisations are allowed to register .io domains.
Labels for .io domains may only containalphanumeric characters and hyphens, and must be between 3 and 63 characters long. Domain names cannot begin or end with a hyphen symbol, and may not contain two consecutive hyphens. The entire domain name may not contain more than 253 characters.[22]
Applicants for the registration of .io domains do not need to be registered or established in the British Indian Ocean Territory. Third-level domains, such as "xyz.com.io", can only be registered by an inhabitant of the area. (Since there are no legal, permanent inhabitants of theBritish Indian Ocean Territory, theoretically no third-level domains will be registered.) Anysecond-level domains used by NIC.IO andtop-level domains cannot be used as a third-level domain. For example, the domains "com.com.io", "org.com.io", and "biz.com.io" are all restricted.[23]
Domain names in .io may not be used, "for any purpose that is sexual or pornographic or that is against thestatutory laws of any nation." If this requirement is breached, "NIC.IO reserves the right to immediately deactivate the offending registration."[24]
.io domains may be registered for a minimum of one year, and a maximum of 5 years.[25]
Domain names in .io are priced higher than those in many other TLDs. Registering an available .io-domain currently (as of 16 June 2023[update]) costs US$36 per year.[24]
Incomputer science, "IO" or "I/O" is commonly used as an abbreviation forinput/output, which makes the .io domain desirable for services that want to be associated with technology. .io domains are often used foropen source projects, application programming interfaces ("APIs"),startup companies,browser games, and other online services.[26]
One reason given for the TLD's popularity is that it stands out by being shorter than other TLDs. Also, the .io TLD is less occupied than other TLDs, so it is more likely that a given term is available there.[27]
Google's ad targeting treats .io as ageneric top-level domain (gTLD) because "users and website owners frequently see [the domain] as being more generic than country-targeted."[28]
Since 2013 Itch.io has developed a dedicated community of niche indie creators, for which it has become a prominent platform to host and sell their games. They also regularly host game jams. It is one of the most popular .io TLD websites.[29][30]
The rapid rise ofAgar.io (2015) andSlither.io (2016) led to the beginning of a new genre of browser games, dubbed ".io games" for the domain name they use. Characterised by simple graphics and gameplay in a free for all multiplayer arena, .io games received around 192 million visits in 2017.[31][32][33] Many .ioshooters launched afterSlither.io—Valadares releasedDiep.io in July 2016. Miniclip also began developing new .io games.[32][34]
^"British Indian Ocean Territory". UK House of Lords. 10 July 2014.Question (Asked by Lord Avebury): What plans have Her Majesty's Government to share the revenues from the sale of the domain name .io with the people of the Chagos Archipelago including the descendants of those who were evicted from the islands? Answer: The Senior Minister of State, Department for Communities and Local Government & Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Warsi): 'In much the same way as the .uk domain, the administration of the .io domain has always been carried out by a private sector organisation – this is currently the Internet Computer Bureau. As with the .uk domain, the Government receives no revenues from the sales or administration of this domain, and there are therefore no plans to share these with Chagossians.'
^Bridle, James (8 April 2015)."FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 REQUEST REF: 0347-15". Retrieved17 July 2015.There is no agreement between the UK Government and ICB regarding the administration of the .io domain. ICB independently registered the .io domain through the internet governing process – the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) – in the late 1990s. Neither the UK Government nor the BIOT Administration receives revenue from the sale of .io domains, which are administered independently by ICB.
^abAllemann, Andrew (22 January 2021)."Breaking: Ethos Capital acquires Donuts". DomainNameWire. Retrieved2 August 2021.Donuts acquired Afilias last month, and it made sense that Ethos was involved in the deal on the back end. Ethos had investors eager to put money to work in the domain name business after the .org deal fell through. Akram Attallah, CEO of Donuts, told me today that the company's main focus going forward is working on the integration of Afilias.
