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[Start of transcript]

Screenshot of a tumblr post

nyancrimew posts:
remember .io games? that was 8 years ago

therealkepler replies:
nowadays the only people that use the .io domain are technology sites

nyancrimew replies:
ok so .io is a “fun” lesson in colonialism and technology, like all two letter top level domains (yes all of them) it’s a country domain belonging to a country, io being the british indian oceans territory, an archipelago in the indian ocean. .io domains became so trendy because they’re easily marketable to tech people (io can stand for input/output), it looks kinda cool and at the time domains with .io were highly available with not many websites being created on the islands.

however .io is not like other small islands with highly wanted tlds such as .ai or .to, where the islands make millions off of domain sales and can rely on them as a big pillar of their economy. all profits from .io sales go to the UK, and despite a fight to get control over their tld the islands get nothing, not only did the native population get displaced in land deals and colonialism but their colonizer also heavily profits off of the territories sudden (indirect) trendyness with tech startups.

don’t buy .io domains, don’t support the british empire.

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  • Dasnap@lemmy.world
    717·
    2 months ago

    Always interesting to see the remnants of the old empires. Countries like the UK and France still having little splatters of control across the world like the last bits of black mould you can’t reach.

    I’m curious, are places like Hawai’i seeing similar movements? I know that area has a bit of an odd history.

    • li10@feddit.ukEnglish
      262·
      2 months ago

      Don’t a lot of these smaller territories actually want to be part of Britain though?

      While it may not be perfect, if you’re a very small territory then having Britain as security is probably a good thing at this point.

      As much as people like to rag on Britain, it’s really not that bad in the modern day.

      • Skua@kbin.earth
        201·
        2 months ago

        Several do, yes, but this isn’t one of them. The BIOT is a particularly grim case and a stain on our country to this day

      • Dasnap@lemmy.world
        181·
        2 months ago

        I’d imagine EU or NATO style relationships are probably healthier. I know there have been some pushes for a ‘Commonwealth EU’ in the past that haven’t gotten far for a myriad of reasons.

        There’s also the fact that I’m sure even the citizens of these countries can’t agree on the matter.

      • PoopDelivery@sh.itjust.works
        64·
        2 months ago

        They’ll squash a threat to Bitian and it’s reputation but I doubt they give a shit about the islands inhabitants, if they did they wouldn’t keep all of the money from .Io domains. I don’t know that potential security over having your own government is preferable. I’d say this is a great example of how British colonialism is still bad in the modern day.

      • _stranger_@lemmy.world
        121·
        2 months ago

        It would very quickly become the de facto property of one or a cadre of billionaires, assuming complete economic and political separation from the U.S.

        • theneverfox@pawb.socialEnglish
          92·
          2 months ago

          No, no… That’s how they got into statehood in the first place, you can’t be taken over by billionaires if they already own everything. And there was nothing defacto about it, I’m pretty sure Dole kidnapped a princess and everything

      • RebekahWSD@lemmy.world
        71·
        2 months ago

        I knew a native Hawaiian man, and I know at least one person who’d love if America fucked off and they got to be their own country again. Being said, unsure if would be possible for them. I know America won’t let it fly.