back to article Britain beats back Argies over Falklands online land grab

It's been 33 years since the United Kingdom went to war with Argentina and won back the Falkland Islands, but the battle still continues – including online. On Thursday, there was a meeting at the United Nations about the islands that resolved the UK and Argentina should get together and negotiate a solution to the ongoing …

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  1. Uberseehandel

    Occupational Therapy For The Mediocre

    This report just shows what time wasting organisations ICANN and IANA really are.

    Latin America in general and Argentina in particular only bang on about the Falklands when their economies are going down the tubes. So no surprise Venezuela is sticking its pica in, then.

    A recent move by the economic disaster that is Argentina is to prevail upon the Chileans to stop sending fresh eggs to the Falklands. Like all incompetent, corrupt economies it wants something for nothing (possibility of oil around the Falklands) and needs to distract its citizens from slow motion train crash that is domestic life.To say nothing of a tendency to assassinate those individuals who disclose what might be termed inconvenient truths.

    Who would believe that less than 100 years ago Argentina was one of the most powerful economies in the world, where did it all go wrong? (http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21596582-one-hundred-years-ago-argentina-was-future-what-went-wrong-century-decline)

    Incidentally, who is paying for all these waste of space delegates to jet round the world in a rolling beer fest? There are lots better things to do with the money!

    1. Warm Braw

      Re: Occupational Therapy For The Mediocre

      Actually, there is no organisation, large or small, that is exempt from these sorts of shenanigans.

      I was once at a meeting of a very modest group of European networking organisations that was almost entirely hijacked by a Greek delegate trying to ensure that, following the break up of Yugoslavia, Macedonia would not be allowed to join the group, or at least not unless the country changed its name. The country had not even applied to join and was unlikely to do so.

      Wherever you have organisations that have national delegates, you will have nationalism. Look on the bright side, though. At least ICANN isn't FIFA.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Occupational Therapy For The Mediocre

        "... At least ICANN isn't FIFA."

        Give it time. They'll probably go the same way. ;)

    2. LucreLout

      Re: Occupational Therapy For The Mediocre

      Incidentally, who is paying for all these waste of space delegates to jet round the world in a rolling beer fest?

      Given their power over the internet, you'd think by now they would have learned to use video conferencing. Too many snouts in the trough.

      1. Alan Brown Silver badge

        Re: Occupational Therapy For The Mediocre

        "Given their power over the internet, you'd think by now they would have learned to use video conferencing.!"

        Many of us have been pointing this out for years. ICANN meetings are 99% about troughing, not engineering.

    3. TheVogon

      Re: Occupational Therapy For The Mediocre

      If the Argentinians want the Falklands "back" - (British ownership of which actually predates the existence of Argentina) - then the Welsh would like Patagonia back please!

  2. Flocke Kroes Silver badge

    Argies are too late

    .mv is Maldives, .ml is Mali and .ms is Montserrat. The only m's left are mb, mf, mi and mj. They could apply for .malvinas. It would cost plenty, and I cannot see them getting their money back from selling sub-domains.

    1. LucreLout

      Re: Argies are too late @Flocke Kroes

      They could apply for .malvinas. It would cost plenty, and I cannot see them getting their money back from selling sub-domains.

      I'm not so sure. I'd buy ItsCalledTheFalklandsNotTheFucking.malvinas

      It is politically impossible for any British government to give away that territory now that British blood has soaked its sands. Argentina might as well deal with it because there's nothing they can do about it.

      1. h4rm0ny
        Mushroom

        Re: Argies are too late @Flocke Kroes

        >>"It is politically impossible for any British government to give away that territory now that British blood has soaked its sands"

        Why should it be given away, anyway? People live there, these people don't want to be part of Argentina, they want to be part of the UK (which they are). So what trumps their right to self-determination?

        The two usual things that people use to try and trump the Falklander's right to self-determination are either claiming that the land is Argentina's by right of geographical proximity, or that it was taken from Argentina unfairly. Neither stands up.

        To those who tout Argentinian ownership based on geographical proximity, I simply point out that the islands are about 300 miles away. You can't even see them from Argentina due to curvature of the Earth! If being in that range is sufficient to make some land yours, then I own France, Spain and Belgium. (Anyone want to buy 4,000,000 very rude waiters?).

        To those who tout Argentinian ownership based on precedent, I ask people when Argentinians ever settled there? I think there was briefly an Argentinian base there, which post-dates British settlement and that's about it. The people who settled the Falkland islands turned up on an empty, uninhabited island which Argentina had never occupied. There was a very ancient canoe found there by archaeologists, iirc. A canoe which predates the formation of Argentina and probably was some unfortunate souls who drifted out too far into the ocean and starved to death.

        The ONLY legal basis for Argentina to own the Falkland islands is that King Philip of Spain once drew a line on a map and said they could have that area. A person whose opinion and legal weight has about as much worth as my own. Less, imho, given that I base my opinion on what the people who actually live there want.

        1. TheVogon

          Re: Argies are too late @Flocke Kroes

          "they want to be part of the UK (which they are)."

          No, the Falklands is NOT part of the UK. Just like Jersey, etc are also not part of the UK.

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Argies are too late @Flocke Kroes

          "Anyone want to buy 4,000,000 very rude waiters?" Classic. :))

      2. Jagged

        Re: Argies are too late @Flocke Kroes

        "It is politically impossible for any British government to give away that territory now that British blood has soaked its sands"

        - No its not. I am old enough to have heard the same thing said about Northern Ireland. The British government WILL give up its claims to the Falklands the moment the Falkland Islanders vote to go somewhere else. If the Argentinian government had any sense whatsoever they would go on the charm offensive to the Falkland Islanders, that's their only hope of getting their hands on the territory.

        1. SkippyBing

          Re: Argies are too late @Flocke Kroes

          - No its not. I am old enough to have heard the same thing said about Northern Ireland.

          That's the Northern Ireland that's still part of the UK right?

          1. Ken Hagan Gold badge

            Re: Argies are too late @Flocke Kroes

            "That's the Northern Ireland that's still part of the UK right?"

            That's the one, and it precisely proves the point. In the 1990s, the UK government made a public declaration that the UK had no territorial interest on the island of Ireland. Northern Ireland remains part of the UK only because the local people want it to.

            (It's a slightly different case because of the size of the population, of course. There were rumours in the 90s that the UK had offered to hand over the territory in line with historic claims by Eire over the entire island, and been politely refused on the grounds that they didn't want the loyalist groups to become their problem.)

          2. Alan Brown Silver badge

            Re: Argies are too late @Flocke Kroes

            "That's the Northern Ireland that's still part of the UK right?"

            That's the Northern Ireland which was handed over to the Free Irish State along with the rest of the island and which immediately opted out and back into british hands. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Northern_Ireland

            The UK government doesn't _want_ Northern Ireland, but they're stuck with it until the population vote differently.

            1. organiser

              Re: Argies are too late @Flocke Kroes

              If it is so that any country or region that wants to become part of the UK (or an overseas territory) can become so, then Argentina could get one step closer to the Falklands by becoming a part of the UK.

        2. streaky

          Re: Argies are too late @Flocke Kroes

          I am old enough to have heard the same thing said about Northern Ireland

          Oh sorry is NI part of the Republic now? Must have missed that one.

          The British government WILL give up its claims to the Falklands the moment the Falkland Islanders vote to go somewhere else

          Which will happen roughly when hell freezes over, even if they vote by referenda to be an independent state they'll still be a protectorate of the UK and everything that follows. It's not going to happen regardless, but that's what would happen.

          Falklands is strategically useful to the UK because of it's proximity to Antarctica, regardless of the views of the Islanders it's going to keep its legal status for centuries.

          There's no non-military solution to the debate that favours Argentina in this, and obviously the military option just doesn't work either, the UK being much more capable militarily than it was last time they had a shot.

          1. Alan Brown Silver badge

            Re: Argies are too late @Flocke Kroes

            The thing which made the difference the last time round and would make the difference this time round is submarines.

            As soon as the UK had _one_ in the area, the argentine navy ran and hid. So did all civilian shipping.

            As for "more capable militarily", I'd say the current lack of fixed wing aircraft capable of being used on ships would argue otherwise. As is the inability to bomb the runway at Port Stanley from a fixed base.

            As most people have pointed out, this is all just a dog-and-bone show anyway, to try and distract form the internal problems and most argentinians see it that way too (there are always a few who will be happy to make a fuss about whatever the government wants them to make a fuss about. but they're a vocal minority who expect to get handsomely paid.)

            1. streaky

              Re: Argies are too late @Flocke Kroes

              As for "more capable militarily", I'd say the current lack of fixed wing aircraft capable of being used on ships would argue otherwise. As is the inability to bomb the runway at Port Stanley from a fixed base.

              Things we have now we didn't then:

              Trident.

              Cruise missiles by the metric fk ton.

              SAMPSON

              Drones

              Way more capable defensive and offensive missile systems

              A military that's had some practice

              The list continues but I'm bored, carriers are for halfwits.

              Come to think of it when we've used all that kit and the yanks get bored of selling us tomahawks at roughly the end of time we can just start doing aa refuelling runs over the atlantic for months on end. That said there'd be nothing left of Argentina after day two but still..

          2. Jagged

            Re: Argies are too late @Flocke Kroes

            You missed the fact that the people of NI have the power to decide their own fate and the minute the Catholics outnumber the Protestants, things will change.

    2. MyffyW Silver badge
      Paris Hilton

      Re: Argies are too late

      My online commentard-ego would like to lay claim to .mf based on a jurisdiction going back to my first post a whole 2 years ago.

      1. Swarthy

        Re: Argies are too late

        If you do get .mf, could I purchase bad.mf from you, or would Samuel L. Jackson have first dibs on that one?

        1. MyffyW Silver badge

          Re: Argies are too late

          It's yours for free @Swarthy if you'll sing "Nimrod's Son" by the Pixies whilst I do a Kim Deal impression on the bass guitar.

          1. Swarthy

            Re: Argies are too late

            Agreed! I'll even have the video (click-to-play, none of that auto-start crap) on the front page of the domain.

          2. Mark 85

            Re: Argies are too late

            It's yours for free @Swarthy if you'll sing "Nimrod's Son" by the Pixies whilst I do a Kim Deal impression on the bass guitar.

            And thus a startup is born.. and we are witness to it. I'm in awe of the power of the comments section.

        2. Peter Simpson 1
          Joke

          Re: Argies are too late

          Perhaps the Falklands domain could be changed from .fk to .fku?

          To emphasise to the Argentinians the fact that they're part of the UK, of course...

          1. ian 22

            Re: Argies are too late

            Perhaps the Argies would accept .fkall. Or even .fkarg!

  3. tfewster
    Thumb Up

    .fk, .mi or .disputed ?

    Is the argument over whether the Islands should have their own ccTLD or the actual code assigned?

    If they're big enough for a ccTLD, they should be able to choose their own. No government meddling with t'interwebs, please!

    1. Alan Brown Silver badge

      Re: .fk, .mi or .disputed ?

      Pitcairn Island has its own domain (population less than 100), as does Christmas Island (An australian military base with _no_ local resident population)

      On that basis, I think if the Falklands want one they're entitled to it.

      1. Jay Daley

        Re: .fk, .mi or .disputed ?

        Christmas Island (.cx) has a population of 2700 or so having been settled in the 1890s. There is no military base there. As we're talking IANA - the software originally written for the .cx registry is now one of the most widely used registry systems.

  4. bazza Silver badge

    "What the hell happens when there isn't the backstop of the US government and global political disputes are left in the hands of 20 nerds lined up in a long crescent?"

    That's easy. They'll make a mess of it.

    If control of domains starts being influenced by whatever is politically trendy at any given point in time then the whole organisation will be brought into disrepute.

    1. nematoad

      "If control of domains starts being influenced by whatever is politically trendy at any given point in time then the whole organisation will be brought into disrepute."

      I really think that ICANN have already brought themselves into disrepute with all the shenanigans that have happened lately.

      See Netmundial as a text-book example.

    2. Alan Brown Silver badge

      "If control of domains starts being influenced by whatever is politically trendy at any given point in time then the whole organisation will be brought into disrepute."

      Let's not forget one very important thing about the Internet:

      ICANN have precisely as much power as the users of the Internet choose to give them. If they step too far out of line, then there are a bunch of alternative registries and not even the UN can mandate that everyone use ICANN if they don't want to.

  5. John Hawkins
    Trollface

    Outer Manchuria before the Falklands

    I reckon someone with too much time on their hands should start up a campaign to have Outer Manchuria returned to China. After all, the Chinese have more rights to Outer Manchuria than the Argies have to the Falklands.

    Would wind up both the Argies and the Ruskies. Maybe the Ruskies wouldn't be so keen on supporting the Argies in the future either.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Outer Manchuria before the Falklands

      What about Ceuta? Spain fusses about Gibraltar, while having its own rock on the other side of the Straits.

      If all the disputed territories were to be straightened out based on geography, the Falklands would come a long way down ICANN's list. But long before they had sorted out the South China Sea, being an ICANN member might have become too dangerous for most people's tastes.

    2. Charlie Clark Silver badge

      Re: Outer Manchuria before the Falklands

      Although it's hard to imagine countries actually going to war over TLDs, stranger things have happened.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Outer Manchuria before the Falklands

        "Although it's hard to imagine countries actually going to war over TLDs, stranger things have happened."

        I wasn't suggesting that, just that I wouldn't want to be an ICANN member who found himself having to vote on a decision that the Chinese government didn't like. The only issue might be where they would send the bill for the bullet.

      2. Trigonoceps occipitalis

        Re: Outer Manchuria before the Falklands

        Perhaps Mr Jenkins had a particularly fine ear.

    3. J.G.Harston Silver badge

      Re: Outer Manchuria before the Falklands

      Maybe a campaign for Texas to be returned to Mexico. I mean, you can't just go and settle in some foreign province and then demand that that province be annexed to the mother country, do svedanya?

      1. BongoJoe

        Re: Outer Manchuria before the Falklands

        My favourite example of this was when Peter The Great had the audacity to built his capital city on foreign soil...

        1. Ken Hagan Gold badge

          Re: Outer Manchuria before the Falklands

          Yeah, that's a *proper* Russian strongman. The present lot are just limp in comparison.

          1. BongoJoe

            Re: Outer Manchuria before the Falklands

            Spoken like a man who likes polonium in his tea.

  6. A Non e-mouse Silver badge

    Local control

    The .fk domain for the islands has been issued to the islanders to manage/control. It has not been issued to the British (or the Argentinians)

    So what's the problem? If the UK had said their domain must be fk.uk, then I could see some argument for being upset.

    1. Ben Tasker

      Re: Local control

      Presumably, if .fk were to be taken away (not that I think it would), the fallback would be precisely that...

    2. Bluenose

      Re: Local control

      I think the problem is that the Argentinian govt would prefer it if the islands where given a AR country code or that the code was fk.ar. The fact that the islanders have been given a code without the permission of Argentina undermines the Argentinian legal claims as it shows the the islands are not subject to the control of Buenos Aires but are allowed by Britain to exercise their own political and economic will without interference.

  7. zaax

    In doing this Argentina have recognised that the Falkland’s islanders belong to the Falkland islanders otherwise they would not have recognised the .fk as the code for the Falklands as they call it the Malvinas to which it code is MV

  8. The JP

    Did Mr Carvell...

    ...just tell them to get .fk 'ed?

    1. Triggerfish

      Re: Did Mr Carvell...

      Sounds like he did the verbal equivalent of Operation Black Buck.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The only indigenous people in the Falklands are penguins, the Argies should take a close look at themselves and whose land they stole and what they do to the original owners:

    https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2013/08/indigenous-peoples-argentina-we-are-strangers-our-own-country/

  10. Big_Boomer Silver badge

    Simples

    Give the .FK to the Argentinians and move all the hosted domains to .fk.uk as suggested above. Who cares what domain name is used? As for the nationality of the islands, that was decided in 2013.

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