Self-regulation, internet domains and Indian Ocean territories

In this article we survey the digital geography of seven Indian Ocean overseas territories. We examine the country code Top-Level Domains (ccTLD) of Australia (.cc – Cocos (Keeling) Islands,.cx – Christmas Island and.hm – Heard and McDonald Islands), Britain (.io – British Indian Ocean Territory) and France (.re – Réunion,.yt – Mayotte and.tf – French Southern and Antarctic Lands). We find there exists divides between the management of digital geography between differing colonial inheritances – broadly, that islands historically tied to the Anglophone states are managed by the private sector, and those that are Francophone are managed with far more central government oversight. This difference has implications for ccTLD use, disputes and who benefits from domain sale profits. We assert these administrative differences are due to France's active and conscious involvement in the internet administration of its territories, an important difference given the importance of self-regulation in current ccTLD management.