The world according to Xavier

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Why is .SU still active?

The .SU top level domain (TLD) was used by the Soviet Union until its dissolution in 1991. Since all two characters top level domain names must be mentioned in the ISO 3166-1 standard as a country code, why is .SU still active?

I don't think anyone got a really good answer to that question, but it looks like ICANN wants to retire the .SU TLD because they have been in contact with the .SU operators.

The ICANN Blog wrote:
To retain .SU, under current policy they would need to successfully apply for the code to be re-instated into the ISO 3166-1 standard, either as a regular two-letter country code, or as an "exceptionally reserved" code like UK and EU. (ICANN permits uses of codes that have been exceptionally reserved by ISO in certain circumstances.)


I can understand if a TLD lives longer then a country since it got registered domain names, but I can't understand why a TLD like .SU still accepts new applications.

The ICANN Blog wrote:
We have urged the current .SU operators to make it clear to the .SU registrants the issues surrounding the domain, as well as to freeze new registrations until its future is clear.


Lets just hope that all the .SU domain owners can find a new TLD like .RU (Russia) or .UA (Ukraine) if .SU is really retired.

/Andreas

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