While Yugoslavia became ‘balkanized’ years ago, the .yu ccTLD survived until 2010.
Some of you might be too young to remember the world before the Berlin Wall came tumbling down and the eventual collapse of the USSR.
In the Balkans, a similar restructuring took place, followed by local wars in the former Yugoslavia that left the once powerful USSR ally split into several nations:
- Slovenia
- Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
- Serbia
- Kosovo
- Montenegro
- Croatia
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
Montenegro launched the very successful .me ccTLD last year and Serbia took over the .rs ccTLD.
As of March 30, 2010 the .yu ccTLD no longer exists.
According to ARNIDS, the .yu ccTLD was slated for cancellation two years ago by ICANN; the action is now complete:
The official registration of the .RS domain started on 10th March, 2008. During the following six months, until 10th September 2008, the owners of the .YU domain were given priority to register the aforementioned domain with the .RS ending. This right was used by 19,372 companies in total.
Upon finishing the transition from .YU to .RS domain, approximately 4000 users of the .YU domain prolonged the lifespan of their .YU domains until 30th March, 2010. As of today noon, the remaining 4000 YU domains are no longer visible online.
Today [March 30, 2010] at 6pm, Museum of Yugoslav History will be hosting the “farewell party” to the .YU domain. Effective today, the .YU domain becomes a part of the museum.
Goodbye Yugoslavia and goodbye to .yu – all while the very successful .me is here to stay, both as a ccTLD and as a vanity TLD for all purposes.
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