Tuvalu
Have you ever heard of the island of Tuvalu? Without a doubt you have heard of it’s web extension, tv. Most web users closely associate the .tv domain with the entertainment industry, which is becoming increasingly popular in it’s usage.
However, there is something most of us don’t think about when we visit these websites, the Country of Tuvalu, which may be taking it’s last breath before receding into the Pacific Ocean because of the effects of global warming. Today it was reported that Tuvalu has been evacuated because of underwater earthquakes in the region and fears of tsunamis.
Tuvalu is the fourth smallest country in the world and has the second lowest elevation of any country, 15 feet above sea level. These two combine to make a volatile mix.
Currently Tuvalu leases the .tv domain. They make $1 million quarterly. So what happens to an a web extension when a country collapses? The extension in all likelihood will probably be converted into representing ‘television’ which it pretty much already is. This was confirmed by GoDaddy.
I figured this to be pretty interesting since I never would have guessed what .tv was or what country it represented. The good news is the money Tuvalu is receiving for the extension makes that their number one export, better known as their only export. The bad news it is was timed with its own demise.
RT @boalt: Blog Post: The Collapse of Tuvalu and The Rise of .tv http://bit.ly/1Rnyg8
October 9th, 2009 at 4:12 pm