Back in 2014 GigaOM published a story on the .io extension, the country code for the British Indian Ocean Territory.
With the ominous title, The dark side of .io: How the U.K. is making web domain profits from a shady Cold War land deal.
Things came to the surface about who runs the .io extension, how they got it and who got the shaft?
The Chagossians got the shaft.
GigaOM wrote:
The British bought and shut down the plantations in the hope of getting the Chagossians to leave of their own accord, but many stayed, so the U.K. forced them all off the islands anyway, lying to the United Nations that they were just migrant workers. Some resettled in Mauritius and the Seychelles; some dispersed around the world. In total, more than 1,500 Chagossians were expelled and barred from returning.
The company running the .io registry is Internet Computer Bureau. Affilias purchased them for $70 million in 2017.
In 2019, the ICJ ordered the U.K. to hand back the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius “s rapidly as possible,” ruling that its continued occupation of the islands is illegal.
Earlier this week a complaint was filed to THE AFRICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN & PEOPLES’ RIGHTS.
The Chagossians are dealing with a lot of concerns but as you would imagine .IO is high on the list.
Reading this complaint one thing that stood out was the focus on crypto. The Chagossians seem to believe there is a lot of illegal activity going on in the .io extension when it comes to crypto.
From the complaint:
20. The value of ccTLD is thought to be in the neighborhood of $50 million. ccTLD .IO generates direct fees of $10 million year to ICB. The domain end users of ccTLD .IO include thousands of crypto asset platforms (crypto asset exchanges, investment schemes, Initial Coin Offerings, Crypto Miners and Bitmixers) who take advantage of the nonexistent commercial regulation in BIOT to generate vast sums of unregulated and untaxed revenue and trade with volume of billions of dollars per day. The BIOT Courts and Administration have been aware since 2017 that cc TLD .IO has become the world’s largest crypto asset offshore centre.
They go on to discuss many crypto ventures that used a .io domain name. They say they have done many investigations.
Here is another part from the complaint, focused on when they get the extension back.
40. The Complainants are mindful that someday the digital patrimony and property of the Chagos Islands will be restored to them by the Occupying Power. As ccTLD.IO is perhaps the most valuable asset and going business in the BIOT, the Complaints are concerned with the despoilment and criminal use of ccTLD which is tacitly condoned by Afilias/ICB and the BIOT Administrationand which will diminish its future value and a producer of revenue.
If you are invested in .io or thinking about it I would advise you to at least bookmark the complaint so you can read it when you have time.
I would not register a crypto name personally. I think when they get the extension back they might look to restrict crypto names. THIS IS MY OPINION not a fact.
After you subtract people speculating on price most of what goes on in the crypto world is black market transactions and tax avoidance.
This is why an online casino for example will buy a domain and pay with crypto. The casino is operating in an illegal manner (Unlicensed, taking deposits from US customers for example) and has no or very limited access to the normal banking system.
Your ignorance is showing.
/whisper
Just the two points you posted, the verbiage of the claims is very dubious and make little sense.
Are they making a case that no crypto business that currently operates on a .io could operate the same business from another TLD such as .com? That is what the following sentence appears to imply:
“who take advantage of the nonexistent commercial regulation in BIOT to generate vast sums of unregulated and untaxed revenue …”
They appear to be conflating use of a ccTLD namespace which is administered by the BIOT, with operating from or domiciling a business in the BIOT. Same goes for the following quote:
“The BIOT Courts and Administration have been aware since 2017 that cc TLD .IO has become the world’s largest crypto asset offshore centre.”
A ccTLD, or any TLD for that matter, is not an “offshore centre” of anything. They’re making it sound as though, because there are digital asset exchanges operating on .io, that this equates to people storing their crypto in the jurisdiction of the BIOT as if depositing it in a Swiss bank account or something. I don’t see how this claim is not absurd on its face.
Then, further, they go on to say that the .io ccTLD is perhaps the most valuable asset of the BIOT, and that it’s current predominant use by cryptocurrency companies of which they roundly equate with criminality, will diminish the value of .io, unless they regulate such companies out of the space. I see it as quite the opposite. If they take control and begin enforcing such regulations, THAT will be what drives the value of .io down, as they scare off tech startups and entrepreneurs who are the lions share of .io users.
I’m willing to be there is more to this story.