There is currently “no timeline” to remove the Soviet Union’s ccTLD from the internet, according to ICANN’s new CEO.
Asked by yours truly during the Public Forum at ICANN 82 whether retirement proceedings had been initiated against .su, Kurt Lindqvist responded, according to the real-time transcript:
ICANN has been in discussions with the managers of .su regarding retirement of the ccTLD for many, many years. There has not been sent a formal notice of removal to the ccTLD manager and no timeline for sending one, discussions will be keep on going and following the ccNSO retirement policy.
The words “formal notice of removal” might be doing a lot of heavy lifting there.
Domain Name Wire scooped earlier this week that on February 8 ICANN had privately told Russian Institute for Development of Public Networks (ROSNIIROS), the .su registry, that it planned to retire the ccTLD by 2030.
DNW noted that a formal notice of removal had been due to be sent and published February 13, but had not.
With Lindqvist today saying that there is “no timeline for sending one”, it seems the matter might have been put to bed for now.
It would have been an incredibly ballsy move to start the process of taking down .su — beloved by Russians and groups in Russian-occupied Ukraine — at this particular point in history.
At the time DNW reported ICANN’s letter to ROSNIIROS was sent, US president Donald Trump had yet to publicly begin peace talks with Russia and Ukraine, but his openly pro-Russian statements on the conflict since his February 12 phone call with Vladimir Putin have alarmed many.
Trump probably isn’t an FSB asset, but he certainly plays one on TV.
Would ICANN want to risk pissing off the unpredictable leader of the country whose jurisdiction it lies within? Or Russia, which might try to make its life difficult in other internet governance fora?
Three years ago, at ICANN 73, ICANN’s then-chair said that the Soviet Union, which disbanded over 30 years ago, is “no longer considered eligible for a ccTLD”.
I first floated the idea of ICANN taking down .su the day after the 2022 Ukraine invasion.
If you find this post or this blog useful or interestjng, please support Domain Incite, the independent source of news, analysis and opinion for the domain name industry and ICANN community.