.nu

.nu is the ccTLD for the country of Niue. The TLD is currently operated by Internetstiftelsen i Sverige, the organization responsible for the management of Sweden's .se TLD.

Ownership Dispute

Early History

The domain was originally delegated to the nonprofit Internet Users Society - Niue (IUS-N), organized by Bill Semich, in 1997. As an IT news professional, Semich identified domain ownership as a "business opportunity" and became interested in the domain name industry. He found such an opportunity in .nu. Semich's interest coincided with the international interest in and eventual formation of a governing body for domain names - ICANN. An active participant in the early development of ICANN, Semich was appointed to the DNSO's Names Council in 1999. ICANN and IUS-N entered into an Accountability Framework regarding the maintenance and operation of the .nu domain in 2008. Semich's company WorldNames provided the technical back-end for .nu until 2013. In 2013, WorldNames transferred technical control of the domain to IIS.

Benefits to Niue

IUS-N's primary activities on the island of Niue have been aimed at providing "free wifi" for the residents of the island. Internet Niue was founded in 1997 alongside IUS-N, and provides wireless internet access at no charge after initial setup costs. The service received worldwide press attention in 2003 when it announced that it had developed a nationwide, freely accessible wireless network. However, this claim has since been subject to skepticism amid reports that the wireless service has not been stable or even available in many areas.

Litigation & Administrative Efforts at Redelegation

In December 2020, it was announced that Niue has initiated a proceeding asking ICANN to redelegate the TLD to its control.

Top-Level Domain