ICANNWatch | .nu Swept Away? Nuie has suffered a major natural disaster, with waves from a cyclone basically swamping the entire country. There's talk that it may not be able to exist as a nation and might have to rejoin New Zealand.
If so, what happens to .nu, its TLD? The people who decide, ICANN do so via their IANA subsidiary, and purport to take their lead for ccTLD creation from the ISO country codes.
But the issue of ccTLD erasure is more complex. ICANN says that one of its main goals is Internet stability, which argues strongly for not breaking links and apps that use ccTLD addresses. And, indeed, .su — for the Soviet Union — is not only still in existence but is taking new registrations!
