Is it time to retire the .gb top level domain?

https://cddo.blog.gov.uk/2022/11/15/is-it-time-to-retire-the-gb-top-level-domain/

by robin_reala • 4 years ago

93 249 4 years ago

cddo.blog.gov.uk

ClassyJacket• 4 years ago

A very rare break of Betteridge's Law of Headlines:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_law_of_headline...

notpushkin• 4 years ago

I'm not sure why doesn't the UK just start selling the .gb domains. Seems like a nice suffix for domain hacks (64.gb anybody?) and in general.

przemub• 4 years ago

There's a huge push in the UK not to use GB abbreviation unless necessary, because it excludes Northern Ireland.

Similarly, since last year international car plates bear UK sign, not GB as it had been for a hundred years before.

markdown• 4 years ago

What's with GB at the Olympics though?

dontlaugh4• 4 years ago

That is indeed the reasoning.

Of course, those of us that don't think Northern Ireland should continue to be colonised would like GB used everywhere.

cstross• 4 years ago

It's worth noting that "Great Britain" is very specifically the name of a geographical land mass -- an island off the coast of Europe that currently includes England, Wales, and Scotland.

In political terms it doesn't include NI ... or the Isle of Man, the Isle of Wight, and the Channel Islands.

(Also, in event of Scottish independence, using "GB" for the nationality would cause confusion because post-independence there'd be two separate nations on the GB land mass. See also [minor] confusion over "Ireland".)

nlnn• 4 years ago

Indeed - there are a couple of good diagrams that attempt to illustrate what each term encompasses, e.g.: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/British_...

AlecSchueler• 4 years ago

As someone from Northern Ireland who is often frustrated by British companies who don't ship to or provide services to this side of the sea, I think having this clearly indicated by a .gb TLD would be great.

pjc50• 4 years ago

This is essentially down to the mainland forgetting that Northern Ireland existed until Brexit forced the NI border issue to prominence, isn't it?

The UK is to a great extent a set of special cases that have accreted from the feudal era. No wonder we invented Mornington Crescent.

All of the compatibility issues and awkwardnesses that derive from this get glossed over as much as possible, but are starting to force their way to the surface as the power and competence vaccuum in the center loses its grip.

pestatije• 4 years ago

What should be the correct demonym? ...Ukeyish?

323• 4 years ago

Currency should be changed too then from GBP to UKP.

brnt• 4 years ago

Always wondered why British car plates say GB instead of UK. Or indeed, why we say "British", and not "UK-ians". What do Northern Irish plates say?

mritzmann• 4 years ago

On the other hand, it would be confusing to have two top level domains for one country.

robin_reala3• 4 years ago

UK’s not one country though. E.g. there’s https://www.gov.uk/, but also https://www.gov.scot/ and https://gov.wales/.

RobotToaster2• 4 years ago

There's a few that already have that, China has .cn and .中国 for instance.

weberer• 4 years ago

Spain has .cat for Catalonia.

dukeofharen• 4 years ago

Fun fact, besides .ru (Russia), .su (Soviet Union) is also still active.

cesarb• 4 years ago

It's not the only country with that, for instance the USA has both .us and .gov for its government domains.

wmd_• 4 years ago

Does this mean it is time to retire the .su TLD as well?

Already__Taken2• 4 years ago

Just for vanities sake it'd be good but the last thing the world wants is news.gb

Iwan-Zotow5• 4 years ago

Domain should be named .kgb anyway

Thus news.kgb

bombcar3• 4 years ago

I look forward to the official renaming to the "United Kingdom of Giga Byte and Northern Ireland" and then we can all fight over if it should have been Gibi Byte.

nimish• 4 years ago

Someone in Gibraltar should have created .gib IMO

Already__Taken2• 4 years ago

I mean, lets get a couple more general elections done and see if we keep NI and Scotland...

robin_reala3• 4 years ago

“The United Kingdom of England and Wales” still theoretically works.

smcl6• 4 years ago

I think they'd continue to refer to it as such but to me it feels a little odd. The "United Kingdom" was originally a union of the kingdoms of Scotland and England, the latter having already conquered and absorbed Wales. Losing one former-kingdom of that union and maintaining you're the "United Kingdom" feels a bit dishonest, a little bit "Democratic People's Republic ..." :)

"The Kingdom of England and Wales" makes more sense but "KEW" and "EW" sound odd as acronyms, and will just lead to most of the world referring to the place as "England" (as many in the USA currently do tbh). That is, if they decide to keep the monarchy...

OJFord4• 4 years ago

That's kind of like 'The United States of <two cities in the same state>'.

(Aside: TIL I don't think there's a US state for which I can name two cities. Edit: ah, no - Austin & Houston TX.)

ben_w2• 4 years ago

I'm not sure it does? IIRC, the Kingdom of Scotland merged with the Kingdom of England as (theoretical) equal partners, but Wales was just straight up conquered, and to the extent it's got any connection with royalty (the Senedd Cymru is democratic so I don't count it for this title), I think it's just leading it's name to royal titles, and hasn't even still officially been a principality since 1542?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Wales

steanne• 4 years ago

the kingdom of southern great britain?

Milner082• 4 years ago

Does it? As a welsh person it hurts me to say that Wales was never a kingdom in the United Kingdom as its was under English rule for a long time before that came about. You could I guess still use the name, but its weird.

I would love to see England get a devolved government, with all governments getting equal power and the UK government overseeing defense, etc. Sort of like a Federal government.

vonzepp6• 4 years ago

One option in the future is the that United Kingdom refers to the monarchy not the government. If Scotland became Independent, they could retain the monarchy. So you could argue the kingdoms are united, but different governments "serve" the monarch in different countries. This would require England and Wales to come up with a new name for their new country unless Wales also asked for independence.

deergomoo• 4 years ago

It's The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, so presumably if Ireland were to ever unify we'd just be...the Kingdom of Great Britain?

frivoal• 4 years ago

That country could have an interestingly named neighbor: if Ireland and Scotland band together, they could be the United Republic of Ireland and Northern Great Britain.

est• 4 years ago

should retire those bullshit for-profit TLDs like .google

whatatita3• 4 years ago

Nah, they don't hurt anyone.

Y_Y• 4 years ago

They hurt me.

aftbit• 4 years ago

I disagree - they hurt all of the brands that were tricked or pressured into buying them to prevent someone else from going after them. If you look at e.g. .ford or .audi, they only have a small handful of sites, all of which could have been subdomains of .ford.com or .audi.com without any real loss.

Tepix2• 4 years ago

Isn't the .IO domain a lot more controversial with the UK expelling the population of the islands? https://www.thewebmaster.com/archived/io-tld-top-level-domai...

ben_w2• 4 years ago

Controversy hardly ever seems to influence the British government.

Even the linked document is more of "Huh, what's this in the draw? Anyone using it?"

toyg4• 4 years ago

FYI that page lacks recent developments: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/03/uk-agrees-to-n...

It looks like a politically isolated and weakened UK government has had to relent, and will finally hand over the territory to Mauritius. It's possibly the only positive outcome of the Brexit saga.

dane-pgp8• 4 years ago

Positive for Mauritius, maybe. It's not clear that the Mauritian government would be any more likely to remove the US base there, and will instead be happy to just receive the rent that the US is currently paying the UK for it.

One might also note that the Chagossians who lived in the British Indian Ocean Territory never actually owned any land there, nor were they self-sufficient in terms of food.[0] Also, the Chagossians were given[1] severance pay for their work there, and compensation for starting a new life in the Seychelles or Mauritius, back in the 1970s. Then, in the 1980s, the UK government paid out millions more in reparations[2], and this year the government offered them British citizenship too.[3]

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chagossians#Eviction

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forced_expulsion_of_the_Chagos...

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forced_expulsion_of_the_Chagos...

[3] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/23/chagos-islands...

JaDogg• 4 years ago

Sounds useful for game boy / retro gaming enthusiasts

d--b• 4 years ago

Why even ask the question? It just opens the door to a no answer, which doesn't make any sense since the domain is already not used for anything.

tokamak• 4 years ago

But when United Kingdom will split, what will Britain use?

ChuckNorris893• 4 years ago

.sb (Small Britain) ?

RugnirViking• 4 years ago

that's brittany (a region of france). "Great" britain is to distinguish it from there.

s_dev2• 4 years ago

.ie, .scot, .cymru, .wales, .irish

gerikson2• 4 years ago

.ie? Already used by Ireland.

Iwan-Zotow5• 4 years ago

.ei - eastern Ireland

flavius29663• 4 years ago

lb - Little Britan (cough cough, computer says no!)

nerf30002• 4 years ago

Retiring a TLD is cruel to anyone using the domain, especially with the prevalence of TLS. Just as retiring "land" that someone paid for and is living on would be cruel.

The tendency for technologies to evaporate and be migrated to replacement for $reasons is too frequent.

Domain TLDs should remain constant. If .gb no longer represents a geopolitical entity then transition it to a new manager with a contract that stipulates maintenance of established domains. Don't set precedent for pulling TLDs out from under people.

thomasedwards• 4 years ago

It is staggeringly unlikely that you would ever have encountered a .gb domain in the wild. The only domain which is registered, though inactive, is hmg.gb - standing for His Majesty's Government. The domain was originally created in the mid 1980s, and abandoned at some point in the 1990s. There are no active domains which use .gb and today, the government only uses .gov.uk for its domains.

Third paragraph.

whatatita3• 4 years ago

Did you read the article? It says right at the beginning that only one domain was ever registered, and it's been inacite for over thirty years.

Whilst I agree with the sentiment that TLDs shouldn't be pulled out from under people, replies without reading the article are just noise.

connordoner• 4 years ago

This comment sums up HN perfectly.

nerf30002• 4 years ago

I'd say the presumptive replies do a more accurate job

ksec• 4 years ago

So even if they retire it, I could never get a .GB domain? If that is the case I would much rather they keep it as it is.

samwillis2• 4 years ago

There is a significant chance that Northern Ireland will hold the referendum on independence that they are entitled to (part of the Good Friday agreement) at some point in the not too distant future. And if they do, there is a significant chance they will vote for independence or joining the south.

If that happens, what happens to the UK? Does it just become "The United Kingdom of Great Britain", dropping "and Northern Ireland". Or do we stop using "The United Kingdom" as it sort of ceases to exist in its own right and revert to just "Great Britain"?

This is a debate the UK government will want to avoid at all costs. I'm amazed they are even considering talking about the ".gb" domain, it bring up difficult topics.

It's sort of schrodinger's domain, don't check on it and it both exists and doesn't exist at the same time!

gmtx725• 4 years ago

it was just called "Kingdom of Great Britain" before 1801 when it only included England Scotland and Wales

samwillis2• 4 years ago

.gb it is then...

thesuitonym• 4 years ago

It would become the United Kingdom of England and Scotland. Though maybe they would acknowledge Wales for once.

nanna• 4 years ago

Northern Ireland's departure would probably correlate with Scotland's, so more likely it'd be the United Kingdom of England and Wales. Catchy.

oneeyedpigeon6• 4 years ago

"United Kingdom of Great Britain" is a lot catchier than "United Kingdom of England, Scotland, and — by the way — Wales" :)

adql• 4 years ago

"United Kingdom of not so great Britain"

c7b• 4 years ago

There were similar debates prior to the Scottish independence referendum. I think the takeaway back then was that Scotland could leave the nation and actually stay part of the monarchy (similar to how Australia, Canada,... still view the King as their head of state), but the UK could keep its acronym and just rename itself to be the United Kingdom of [whatever remains of it].

N19PEDL2• 4 years ago

One day it might become the United Kingdom of England and Wales.

Kaibeezy3• 4 years ago

Where it’s heading is United Kingdom of the City of London and England.

orangepurple• 4 years ago

Not Britain?

claviola• 4 years ago

You'd still have Scotland and Wales there.

monocasa3• 4 years ago

Scotland is planning another independence vote in a year or so. After Brexit there's a good chance it'll pass this time.

sb057• 4 years ago

The kingdoms that are united are England and Scotland. It was originally:

the United Kingdom of Great Britain

then after Ireland was formally annexed:

the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

then after (southern) Ireland broke off:

the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

divbzero• 4 years ago

How about Wales?

Apparently, Wales was formally a part of the Kingdom of England in 1707 when the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland combined to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. The subsequent union with the Kingdom of Ireland in 1801 created the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom

rawling• 4 years ago

Per Wikipedia, the "United" came with Ireland, not Scotland.

The United Kingdom has evolved from a series of annexations, unions and separations of constituent countries over several hundred years. The Treaty of Union between the Kingdom of England (which included Wales, annexed in 1542) and the Kingdom of Scotland in 1707 formed the Kingdom of Great Britain. Its union in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland created the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Most of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which formally adopted that name in 1927.

captainmuon• 4 years ago

So outside of the UK people often falsely use GB, UK and England synonymously (sorry Wales). Similar to how people call the Netherlands Holland, although that is just one part.

I think at some point people should just accept that the meaning has decayed completely and GB/UK/England means the lower half of the island on the right (up to Scotland). Maybe introduce "BI" for "British Ilses"? Unfortunately, .bi is already taken as a TLD.

alexvoda• 4 years ago

Since Scotland shows a simmilar interest, it might become The United Kingdom of England and Wales.

bitwize• 4 years ago

I think it should be handed over to the Game Boy emulation community.

That is, provided that Baron Silas Greenback doesn't attempt to steal it in his bid to rule the world.

ROARosen• 4 years ago

There is a risk that if handed back another country might try to claim it for themselves

I really don't get this. What exactly is the risk? If they don't need it why do they need to make sure no one else gets it?

counttheforks• 4 years ago

Old domains which are still referenced somewhere will change ownership and can now be used for phishing or other nefarious activities.

Also it looks official, I'm sure plenty of people would fall for gov.gb if the site looked official enough.

londons_explore• 4 years ago

If the domain has ever been used for anything, there are serious security reasons to never reuse it.

For example, imagine your recovery email address for something important is bob@something.gb. If 'gb' is ever reassigned to someone else, they can now get access to anything ever registered at a gb address.

This is the reason things like gmail accounts are never recycled to another user. Early services like hotmail would recycle accounts, but it has since become an 'obviously bad idea'.

bastawhiz• 4 years ago

The post does say that only one domain has ever been registered and it's been defunct for decades. The risk is probably zero.

advisedwang• 4 years ago

Risk 1: Impersonation. ie, someone sets up hmrc.gov.gb and tells people "pay your taxes here" and scams a bunch of people.

Risk 2: Economic loss. People selling .gb domains might take away from .uk revenue.

Risk 3: Political fallout. Perhaps Chagos Islanders somehow get control .gb and demand that the UK give up .io in exchange. There's plenty of geopolitics that could get brought up.

Risk 4: opportunity cost. Perhaps later some major use for .gb arises, but by then it's too late.

These are all pretty small risks, but this is the kind of thing they may have in mind.

sharkbird2• 4 years ago

Honestly, if it were up to me, my solution to this would be to not solve it all. There's only a finite amount of time and energy available in any organization and you have to make sure you spend it on the problems that are worth solving. That have a significant payoff of some sort. This doesn't seem to be one of those.

layer8• 4 years ago

They should reserve .ew now in case both North Ireland and Scotland exit.

Iwan-Zotow5• 4 years ago

In a need of .kgb top level domain

gumby• 4 years ago

gb is a legacy of an earlier system when a naming system in the UK was big-endian: gb.ac.cambridge etc (example; I no longer remember any of them for real).

But it ought to be appropriate for entities in GB but not in the UK, such as Isle of Man, Channel Islands, post-independent Scotland (whose members could also use .EU again).

yieldcrv• 4 years ago

There are city level domains now, this question is about a decade too late

postultimate• 4 years ago

The UK got the .gb domain because it's the correct country code. The .uk domain came about because it was in use on the Janet academic network, shortly before all the networks were smooshed together to make the internet. It was probably expected that everyone would eventually move to .gb, but nothing ever gets fixed in computing...

Is it time to retire the .gb top level domain?

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