Niue WiFi Network Gone, .nu TLD May Follow 389
gxc writes "The world's first free national wireless grid is no longer with us, after waves from
Cyclone Heta swept over Niue's thirty metre cliffs, destroying
everything. Although only one person died, the damage is so bad that
there is talk of winding up the country , meaning their fortuitous ccTLD could go the way of .su. Perhaps the easiest way
for Slashdotters to help Niue would be to choose a .nu domain over the dull alternatives."
Many Swedish Domains (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:The Smallest State? (Score:5, Interesting)
"nu" in dutch (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:information on niue (Score:1, Interesting)
Actually this is, or was, true of several small countries, most of them larger and wealthier than Niue - San Marino [kosel.com], for example.
.nu in Sweden (Score:3, Interesting)
This is insightful? More like idiotic... (Score:4, Interesting)
Perhaps you should RTFA and use your brain before opening your mouth.
Let's start off showing you how far off-base you are by providing a quote from one of the articles linked to in the story summary:In case you're too stupid to understand what "economic and administrative assistance" means, I'll translate it for you: it means that when they need help, New Zealand is obliged (morally, if not contractually) to provide it.
Secondly, let's point out the bloody obvious: in an environment that's subject to weather extremes, such as hurricanes and cyclones, putting up telegraph poles isn't the best way to provide connectivity because telegraph poles and lines tend not to stay standing for long in those conditions. And of the alternatives, wireless is by far the most practical (cheaper, easier to implement and upgrade), especially on such a small scale.
Thirdly, NZ$8 million equates to US$5.45 million. (NZ$1 = US$0.6815.) So that's US$4,500 per native Niuean. Contrast that with the US$3-4 billion pa in military aid alone that the US gives Israel (population, 6.5 million), which works out to be US$615 per Israeli.
Now, what's the more ethical:
A. New Zealand giving Niue $5.45 million of support, money that it would have to pay out anyway if Niue was to cease being an independent nation and return to being a part of New Zealand? or
B. The US provinding Israel with $3-4 billion of military aid every year, some of which is spent oppressing and killing innocent Palestinean civilians, as well as Western observers (including US and British aide workers)?
Re:I have a bunch of these (Score:4, Interesting)
Maybe the problem is that these domains come cheap, and that the stuff that you can find with
domain names mostly is too.
Re:I have a bunch of these (Score:3, Interesting)
A tragedy. (Score:3, Interesting)
OHOH I really don't know the availiblity of concrete in Niue. It may be prohibitive to build these structures if the concrete has to be imported.
Interesting Tidbit (Score:3, Interesting)
Nu [zhongwen.com].
Re:This is insightful? More like idiotic... (Score:5, Interesting)
You make some very solid arguments here. I feel I should clarify this point however; Under the 1974 agreement (which is in fact a mutually agreed addition to the Statute of Westminister) New Zealand is contractually obligated to provide assistance.
The relationship between NZ and the various pacific island nations is a close one. For instance, most nationals of those countries are afforded NZ citizenship as a birthright and many of them use the NZ currency. Assistance and aid (despite the grandparent comment) are gladly provided by NZ to those nations, and their contribution to our collective culture is generally appreciated.
Re:.nu in Sweden (Score:3, Interesting)
Basically I think you had to be a Swedish corporation and you could only get one related to your name. We had a lecture back when I studied at Uppsala by a guy from a government department who said that they couldn't even get
When I was there (in 1999) there was talk of the government more or less forcibly changing the registrar in order to change the policies. I don't know if anything happened.
Doesn't add up? (Score:4, Interesting)
So, $50m sounds like an awful lot - I'd like to know where that number comes from.
Re:I have a bunch of these (Score:2, Interesting)
the pr0n sites will just move to the cook islands' domain.
They do after all sell ".co.ck"... well maybe thats good for gay/female oriented pr0n sites...
Anyhow, I'm feeling very bad for these struggling Niue, If some shady businessman havent stolen it, Id buy a
Re:Just a novelty...? (Score:3, Interesting)
Why on *earth* are they not making a killing from tourism?
Changed now (Score:3, Interesting)
Changed last year to a free-for-all landgrab with after-the-fact conflict resolution model. Anybody (I don't think you have to be Swedish, even) can register a
In related news, the admins also slashed their domain prices 40% this year due to the overwhelming increase in registered domains. They didn't need as much money to admin the TLD as they were getting.
Re:The Smallest State? (Score:3, Interesting)
This sounds quite like... (Score:3, Interesting)
Relating to another thread [slashdot.org], if global warming is a reality, regardless whether humans have caused it, we may be seeing much more of this kind of thing.
Re:Oh.nu! (Score:2, Interesting)
I may be a bit partial, and I don't know the entrepreneur himself, but his son is in no way "shady". As I understand it, they bought the domain name from Niue, in the same way that other people bought the domain name
It is not clear to me, however, that they have the right to do that. There would be no profit here without the time, money, and effort spent by the aforementioned entrepreneur, so what is supposed to entitle the Niue government to a cut that is addition to whatever deal they originally negotiated?
I see these claims of imperialism and pillaging of local resources going around here, but it is not like anyone is strip mining their island, or anything. This is just a domain name, for crying out out, and not even a domain name that has an obvious meaning.
The Nuie government is whining that because their domain name has been "stolen" from them, their own people cannot participate in the Internet. I find this claim a bit disingenuous, however. Certainly it is possible, is it not, for them to be assigned a new domain name. Perhaps the new domain name won't be as catchy for the purposes of turning a profit, but, on the other hand, would certainly do the job of allowing their populace Internet access.