The Chagos .IO domain - Campaign Update

The legal challenges on the status of the .IO domain (see our previous item) have moved another step forward.

The Chagos Refugees Group initiated a claim at the OECD in 2021 for a fair share of the enormous sums of money paid in domain registrations and to Paul Kane, the Internet guy who somehow lucked into the incredibly lucrative colonialist gig of running the .IO domain on behalf of "The Crown". The claim highlights that domain registrations are being administered irresponsibly and providing a haven for online criminals.

The Ireland National Contact Point for the OECD has carried out its initial assessment and determined that the complaint should be heard. The decision notes that

The complaint also alleges that by marketing a digital asset associated with the Chagos Islands without sharing profits with the Chagossians, the Companies are “doing business with an unlawful and apartheid colonial regime”

https://enterprise.gov.ie/en/publications/publication-files/initial-assessment-afilias-101domain-grs-icb.pdf

There's a helpful summary of the situation here: https://behindmlm.com/mlm/oecd-overseeing-io-domain-abuse-lawsuit-mediation/

More details about the case:

• https://www.jlevy.co/2021/07/28/oecd-complaint-filed-against-afilias/
• https://www.business-humanrights.org/fr/derni%C3%A8res-actualit%C3%A9s/complaint-filed-against-afilias-its-subsidiaries-before-the-ireland-oecd-national-contact-point/
• https://www.theregister.com/2019/05/27/io_domains_uk_un/
• https://www.oecdwatch.org/complainant/chagos-refugees-group-united-kingdom/

It's also come to light that the technical administration of the.io domain has been inept https://thehackerblog.com/the-io-error-taking-control-of-all-io-domains-with-a-targeted-registration/ in 2027 hackers were able to take control of the entire TLD - failing a key function of the registrar's contractual duties.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch published a major report recently showing that the US and UK governments committed:

CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY by

1. forcibly displacing the Chagossians during construction of the US military base on Diego Garcia,
2. barring Chagossians from returning home, and
3. engaging in racial persecution.

The report, “That’s When the Nightmare Started,” is an unprecedented condemnation of the US and UK by a major human rights organization. Human Rights Watch calls for full reparations for the Chagossians from the US and UK, including:

1. the right of return;
2. resettlement assistance;
3. proper compensation;
4. government apologies

Please help support the Chagossians by sharing news of the report with anyone and everyone you know, especially journalists, human rights advocates, and activists, among others!

http://thechagosrefugeesgroup.com/

UK was forced to accept the 2019 decision of the International Court of Justice which assigned sovereignty of the islands to Mauritius, and has made an empty promise to accede and vacate the illegal colony, but many of the Ilois refugees are now elderly, and rising seas threaten the atoll.

We suggest that companies doing business in the "BIOT" should be boycotted and sanctioned, including ICB/Afilias/Donuts, who run the .io domain as well as many others. Other companies who support the current criminal regime both on and offline should be identified and publicised.

UK should act and come clean about the huge revenues of the .io domain - the islanders have requested reparations while UK and its corporate partners continue to profit from their exile.

_{image: US Navy in Diego Garcia 1973 c/o Flickr}