The reason is because ccTLDs need to match the alpha-2 code of the country as it exists in ISO 3166-1. This is because IANA doesn’t want to be the arbiter of which countries exist or not. You get a code, you get a ccTLD. No code, no ccTLD.
ccTLDs need to match the alpha-2 code of the country as it exists in ISO 3166-1
Not to refute your point or anything but just wanted to point out that there are two exceptions in popular use… One of the top used ones in fact, the United Kingdom, whose code is actually GB. .gb is reserved but not in use and instead the .uk ccTLD is used.
The coexistence of .gb and .uk is only because .uk predates the rule by a few months. You could say it was grandfathered in, though they are both reserved in ISO 3166-1. This one isn’t a good example of something that can happen decades after the rule was put in place.
As for .eu it isn’t really an exception, .eu is reserved in ISO 3166-1.
Yes I have. ccTLDs are 2 characters, as I specified above. To make .io into a gTLD you’d need to add a third character, which wouldn’t do anything to help the companies who are using .io today.
The companies who are using .io who aren’t associated with the Indian Ocean Territories will however have 5 years (or 10 if an extension is requested) to migrate to a gTLD before .io is retired.
The reason is because ccTLDs need to match the alpha-2 code of the country as it exists in ISO 3166-1. This is because IANA doesn’t want to be the arbiter of which countries exist or not. You get a code, you get a ccTLD. No code, no ccTLD.
Not to refute your point or anything but just wanted to point out that there are two exceptions in popular use… One of the top used ones in fact, the United Kingdom, whose code is actually
GB. .gb is reserved but not in use and instead the .uk ccTLD is used.The other one is .eu
It makes me wonder if Mauritius could/would request an exception for
.ioin a similar manner to what the UK did with having.gbAND.uk.The coexistence of .gb and .uk is only because .uk predates the rule by a few months. You could say it was grandfathered in, though they are both reserved in ISO 3166-1. This one isn’t a good example of something that can happen decades after the rule was put in place.
As for .eu it isn’t really an exception, .eu is reserved in ISO 3166-1.
You haven’t addressed the case of migraine to a non geographic tld
Yes I have. ccTLDs are 2 characters, as I specified above. To make .io into a gTLD you’d need to add a third character, which wouldn’t do anything to help the companies who are using .io today.
The companies who are using .io who aren’t associated with the Indian Ocean Territories will however have 5 years (or 10 if an extension is requested) to migrate to a gTLD before .io is retired.