The .io domain could be shut down due to UK territorial return

You may have seen the .io domain used by technology-related websites. The .io domain is a country code top-level domain (ccTLD) assigned to the British Indian Ocean Territory (the area surrounding the Chagos Archipelago). However, the UK's decision to return the Chagos Archipelago to the UK has raised concerns about the survival of the .io domain.

UK and Mauritius joint statement, 3 October 2024 - GOV.UK
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/joint-statement-between-uk-and-mauritius-3-october-2024

How a UK treaty could spell the end of the .io domain - The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/8/24265441/uk-treaty-end-io-domain-chagos-islands

The United Kingdom colonized the Chagos Islands in the 19th century and has used them as a military base in the Indian Ocean to this day. Meanwhile, Mauritius, a former British colony, also claims sovereignty over the Chagos Islands, and in 2019 the International Court of Justice recommended that the United Kingdom return the islands.

After discussions between the two countries, the British government announced on October 3, 2024 that it would return the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius. With the return of the Chagos Archipelago, it is expected that the management authority of the '.io' domain will also be transferred to Mauritius, raising the possibility that '.io' will be abolished.

The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) has published a guide to decommissioning ccTLDs when the country or region on which the ccTLD is based no longer exists. According to this guide, when a country or region is deleted from the ISO 3166-1 country code , the ccTLD for that country and region will lose eligibility. ccTLDs that lose eligibility will be deleted after a five-year transition period. The deletion of ccTLDs can be extended for five years, so even if '.io' loses eligibility, it will remain available for up to ten years.

Retirement of a Country-code Top-level Domain (ccTLD)
https://www.iana.org/help/cctld-retirement

ccTLD registration fees are a source of revenue for the country, and in some cases can even generate revenue. For example, Anguilla, which has the '.ai' domain, is known to earn billions of yen a year just from registration fees. '.io' is often used by technology companies because it evokes 'I/O,' meaning input and output, and there is a large genre of browser games called ' .io games ' that have acquired the '.io' domain, and so many websites use the '.io' domain. For this reason, if management rights are transferred to Mauritius, it could bring great benefits to Mauritius, and there is a strong possibility that Mauritius will try to maintain '.io.'

The Caribbean island of Anguilla, which has the '.ai' domain, is earning billions of yen a year due to the popularity of AI - GIGAZINE

In addition, regarding ccTLDs, '.cs' was abolished with the division of Czechoslovakia, and '.an' was abolished with the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles in the past. On the other hand, the Soviet ccTLD '.su' has survived even after the collapse of the Soviet Union , and new registrations are possible at the time of writing.