<s>
The	O
Internet	B-Application
country	I-Application
code	I-Application
top-level	O
domain	O
(	O
ccTLD	B-Application
)	O
.io	B-General_Concept
is	O
nominally	O
assigned	O
to	O
the	O
British	O
Indian	O
Ocean	O
Territory	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
domain	O
is	O
operated	O
commercially	O
by	O
Afilias	O
,	O
a	O
domain	B-Protocol
name	I-Protocol
registry	I-Protocol
subsidiary	O
of	O
Ethos	O
Capital	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Google	B-Application
's	I-Application
ad	O
targeting	O
treats	O
.io	B-General_Concept
as	O
a	O
generic	O
top-level	O
domain	O
(	O
gTLD	O
)	O
because	O
"	O
users	O
and	O
webmasters	O
frequently	O
see	O
[	O
the	O
domain ]	O
more	O
generic	O
than	O
country-targeted	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
.io	B-General_Concept
domain	O
was	O
delegated	O
by	O
the	O
Internet	O
Assigned	O
Numbers	O
Authority	O
to	O
British	O
entrepreneur	O
Paul	O
Kane	O
in	O
1997	O
together	O
with	O
the	O
ccTLDs	B-Application
.ac	O
(	O
Ascension	O
Island	O
)	O
,	O
.sh	O
(	O
St	O
Helena	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
.tm	O
(	O
Turkmenistan	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
the	O
UK	O
government	O
has	O
repeatedly	O
stated	O
that	O
this	O
is	O
untrue	O
:	O
“	O
There	O
is	O
no	O
agreement	O
between	O
the	O
UK	O
Government	O
and	O
ICB	O
regarding	O
the	O
administration	O
of	O
the	O
.io	B-General_Concept
domain	O
”	O
and	O
"	O
the	O
Government	O
receives	O
no	O
revenues	O
from	O
the	O
sales	O
or	O
administration	O
of	O
this	O
domain.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
subdomain	O
was	O
registered	O
under	O
.IO	B-General_Concept
in	O
1998	O
,	O
when	O
Levi	O
Strauss	O
&	O
Co	O
.	O
registered	O
the	O
domain	O
levi.io	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
April	O
,	O
2017	O
,	O
Paul	O
Kane	O
sold	O
the	O
Internet	O
Computer	O
Bureau	O
holding	O
company	O
to	O
privately-held	O
domain	B-Protocol
name	I-Protocol
registry	I-Protocol
services	O
provider	O
Afilias	O
for	O
$70.17	O
m	O
in	O
cash	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
would	O
extinguish	O
the	O
British	O
Indian	O
Ocean	O
Territory	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
IO	O
ISO-3166	B-Language
two-letter	I-Language
country	I-Language
code	I-Language
and	O
.io	B-General_Concept
domain	O
could	O
also	O
be	O
extinguished	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
July	O
2021	O
,	O
the	O
Chagos	O
Refugees	O
Group	O
UK	O
submitted	O
a	O
complaint	O
to	O
the	O
Irish	O
government	O
against	O
domain-name	O
speculators	O
Paul	O
Kane	O
and	O
Ethos	O
Capital	O
subsidiary	O
Afilias	O
,	O
seeking	O
repatriation	O
of	O
the	O
.IO	B-General_Concept
(	O
"	O
Indian	O
Ocean	O
"	O
)	O
country-code	B-Application
top-level	I-Application
domain	I-Application
and	O
payment	O
of	O
back	O
royalties	O
from	O
the	O
$	O
7m/year	O
in	O
revenue	O
generated	O
by	O
the	O
domain	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
attempts	O
to	O
repatriate	O
top-level	O
domains	O
are	O
not	O
uncommon	O
,	O
this	O
one	O
is	O
notable	O
in	O
that	O
it	O
cites	O
consumer	O
and	O
human	O
rights	O
violations	O
of	O
the	O
OECD	O
's	O
2011	O
Guidelines	O
for	O
Multinational	O
Enterprises	O
rather	O
than	O
multistakeholder	O
representation	O
under	O
ICANN	B-Application
policy	O
,	O
and	O
because	O
the	O
.io	B-General_Concept
domain	O
has	O
enjoyed	O
commercial	O
success	O
,	O
particularly	O
among	O
cryptocurrency	O
companies	O
,	O
with	O
more	O
than	O
270,000	O
domains	O
registered	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Individuals	O
and	O
organisations	O
are	O
allowed	O
to	O
register	O
.io	B-General_Concept
domains	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Labels	O
for	O
.io	B-General_Concept
domains	O
may	O
only	O
contain	O
alphanumeric	O
characters	O
and	O
hyphens	O
,	O
and	O
must	O
be	O
between	O
3	O
and	O
63	O
characters	O
long	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Applicants	O
for	O
the	O
registration	O
of	O
.io	B-General_Concept
domains	O
do	O
not	O
need	O
to	O
be	O
registered	O
or	O
established	O
in	O
the	O
British	O
Indian	O
Ocean	O
Territory	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Any	O
second-level	B-Protocol
domains	I-Protocol
used	O
by	O
NIC.IO	O
and	O
top-level	O
domains	O
cannot	O
be	O
used	O
as	O
a	O
third-level	O
domain	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Domain	O
names	O
in	O
.io	B-General_Concept
may	O
not	O
be	O
used	O
,	O
"	O
for	O
any	O
purpose	O
that	O
is	O
sexual	O
or	O
pornographic	O
or	O
that	O
is	O
against	O
the	O
statutory	O
laws	O
of	O
any	O
nation.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
.io	B-General_Concept
domains	O
may	O
be	O
registered	O
for	O
a	O
minimum	O
of	O
one	O
year	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
maximum	O
of	O
5	O
years	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Domain	O
names	O
in	O
.io	B-General_Concept
are	O
priced	O
higher	O
than	O
those	O
in	O
many	O
other	O
TLDs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Registering	O
an	O
available	O
.io-domain	O
currently	O
(	O
)	O
costs	O
US$90	O
per	O
year	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
.io	B-General_Concept
domain	O
is	O
used	O
almost	O
exclusively	O
for	O
purposes	O
unrelated	O
to	O
the	O
British	O
Indian	O
Ocean	O
Territory	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
computer	B-General_Concept
science	I-General_Concept
,	O
"	O
IO	O
"	O
or	O
"	O
I/O	B-General_Concept
"	O
is	O
commonly	O
used	O
as	O
an	O
abbreviation	O
for	O
input/output	B-General_Concept
,	O
which	O
makes	O
the	O
.io	B-General_Concept
domain	O
desirable	O
for	O
services	O
that	O
want	O
to	O
be	O
associated	O
with	O
technology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
.io	B-General_Concept
domains	O
are	O
often	O
used	O
for	O
open	B-License
source	I-License
projects	O
,	O
application	O
programming	O
interfaces	O
(	O
"	O
APIs	O
"	O
)	O
,	O
startup	O
companies	O
,	O
browser	B-Protocol
games	I-Protocol
,	O
and	O
other	O
online	O
services	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
TLD	O
is	O
also	O
used	O
for	O
domain	B-Application
hacks	I-Application
,	O
as	O
the	O
letters	O
"	O
io	O
"	O
are	O
an	O
ending	O
of	O
many	O
English	O
terms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Also	O
,	O
the	O
.io	B-General_Concept
TLD	O
is	O
less	O
occupied	O
than	O
other	O
TLDs	O
,	O
so	O
it	O
is	O
more	O
likely	O
that	O
a	O
given	O
term	O
is	O
available	O
there	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Around	O
2015	O
a	O
multiplayer	O
game	O
,	O
Agar.io,	O
spawned	O
many	O
other	O
games	O
with	O
a	O
similar	O
playstyle	O
that	O
used	O
the	O
.io	B-General_Concept
domain	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Diep.io,	O
Slither.io,	O
Surviv.io,	O
and	O
ZombsRoyale.io	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Such	O
games	O
are	O
collectively	O
called	O
"	O
.io	B-General_Concept
games	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
a	O
2014	O
Gigaom	O
interview	O
with	O
Paul	O
Kane	O
,	O
then	O
chairman	O
of	O
the	O
Internet	O
Computer	O
Bureau	O
,	O
the	O
domain	B-Protocol
name	I-Protocol
registry	I-Protocol
is	O
required	O
to	O
give	O
some	O
of	O
its	O
profits	O
to	O
the	O
British	O
government	O
,	O
for	O
administration	O
of	O
the	O
British	O
Indian	O
Ocean	O
Territory	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
being	O
questioned	O
as	O
a	O
result	O
of	O
the	O
interview	O
,	O
the	O
British	O
Government	O
denied	O
receiving	O
any	O
funds	O
from	O
the	O
sale	O
of	O
.io	B-General_Concept
domain	O
names	O
,	O
and	O
argued	O
that	O
consequently	O
,	O
the	O
profits	O
could	O
not	O
be	O
shared	O
with	O
the	O
Chagossians	O
,	O
the	O
former	O
inhabitants	O
forcibly	O
removed	O
by	O
the	O
British	O
government	O
.	O
</s>
