bwhhisc
28th October 2007, 01:33 PM
http://domainsmagazine.com/Domains_1/Domain_8930.shtml
Soviet Top-Level Domain Refuses To Die
ICANN -- who run the Internet's top-level domain system -- have been trying to retire .su, the old domain used by the Soviet Union. They ordered the .su registrar to stop selling .su domains, but the registrar continues to sell thousands of domains every year -- and they've just declared fire-sale pricing for new signups.
One address that hasn't been retired is ".su" - assigned to the Soviet Union in 1990. It is still operating despite the country no longer existing, and despite the ".ru" TLD assigned to Russia in 1994.
There are currently 9648 sites under the domain. And apparently it is getting more popular - this time last year there were only 7206. Add to this the fact that the body operating ".su" has cut prices in response to an ICANN request to freeze new registrations, and the number of ex-Soviet sites that will have to be reassigned, and you have one almighty mess.
Soviet Top-Level Domain Refuses To Die
ICANN -- who run the Internet's top-level domain system -- have been trying to retire .su, the old domain used by the Soviet Union. They ordered the .su registrar to stop selling .su domains, but the registrar continues to sell thousands of domains every year -- and they've just declared fire-sale pricing for new signups.
One address that hasn't been retired is ".su" - assigned to the Soviet Union in 1990. It is still operating despite the country no longer existing, and despite the ".ru" TLD assigned to Russia in 1994.
There are currently 9648 sites under the domain. And apparently it is getting more popular - this time last year there were only 7206. Add to this the fact that the body operating ".su" has cut prices in response to an ICANN request to freeze new registrations, and the number of ex-Soviet sites that will have to be reassigned, and you have one almighty mess.