iPedia Free Information Center

Information about .gov

.gov
dot gov
Introduced1985
TLD typeGeneric top-level domain
StatusActive
RegistryGeneral Services Administration, operated by ZoneEdit
SponsorNone
Intended useGovernmental entities
Actual useUnited States of America government; formerly federal-only but later expanded to include state and local entities
Registration restrictionsMust meet eligibility requirements and submit authorization letter
StructureRegistrations at second level permitted
DocumentsRFC 920; RFC 1591; RFC 2146
Dispute policiesNone
Web site


.gov a generic top-level domain used by government entities in the United States. The .gov domain is administered by the General Services Administration (GSA), an independent agency of the federal government. The URL for registration services is [1] [1]

The U.S. is the only country that has a government-specific top-level domain in addition to its ccTLD, due to the origins of the Internet as a US Federal Government-sponsored research network (see NSFNET and ARPANET). Other countries typically use a second-level domain for this purpose, e.g., .gov.au for Australia, .gov.ar for Argentina, .gub.uy for Uruguay, .govt.nz for New Zealand, (NZ), .gov.uk for the United Kingdom, .gc.ca for Canada, .gouv.fr for France and .guv.ro[2] for Romania. Since the United States controls the .gov Top Level Domain, it would be impossible for another country to create a domain ending in .gov, for example .jp.gov.

Some U.S. federal agencies use .fed.us rather than .gov. The Department of Defense and its subsidiary organizations use .mil. Some U.S. governmental entities use other domains, such as the use of .com domains by the United States Postal Service (which uses both usps.gov and usps.com for the same location, although it only advertises the .com version) and the United States Army's recruitment website (goarmy.com, this trend is repeated at the recruitment websites of the other branches of the U.S. Military). Internet purists consider these usages to be improper, as these are governmental or military entities rather than commercial ones.

Additionally, some technically private organizations having some formal association with the federal government make use of .gov, such as the Federal Reserve System. (Website)

All governments in the U.S. are allowed to use .gov, such as atlantaga.gov for the city of Atlanta, loudoun.gov for the county of Loudoun, Virginia and georgia.gov for the U.S. state of Georgia. This was not always true; under an earlier policy, only federal agencies were allowed to use the domain, and agencies beneath cabinet level were required to use subdomains of their parent agency. There is a lack of consistency in addresses of state and local government sites, with some using .gov, some .us, some using both (the Commonwealth of Virginia uses both www.state.va.us and www.virginia.gov for the same location) and still others in .com, .org or another TLD.

Availability

Use of the .gov domain is restricted to government entities. According to GSA guidelines, this includes U.S. Governmental departments, programs, and agencies on the federal level; Federally recognized Indian Tribes (referred to by the GSA as Native Sovereign Nations, which must use the suffix -NSN.gov); State governmental entities and programs; cities and townships represented by an elected body of officials; counties and parishes represented by an elected body of officials; and U.S. territories. [2]

Authorization

To register a .gov domain, a letter of authorization must be submitted to the GSA. For federal agencies, the authorization must be submitted by cabinet-level chief information officer (CIO). For state governments, authorization from the governor or state CIO is required. Domain names for cities require authorization from the mayor or equivalent official; for counties, authorization may be submitted by county commissioners or their equivalent officials, or by the highest-ranking county official. [3] For Native Sovereign Nations, the authorization must come from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. [4]

Naming conventions

The GSA provides guidelines on naming conventions for second-level domains, such as those used by state and local governments. For states, the domain name must include the full state name or postal abbreviation, and the abbreviation must not be obscured by inclusion in a larger word (for example, win.gov for Indiana would be an unacceptable domain name.) [5]

Policy

Policy regarding the .gov domain is laid out in 41 CFR Part 102-173, a Final Rule promulgated by the GSA in the Federal Register on March 28, 2003. [https://www.dotgov.gov/final_rule_102.aspx]

Notes

1. ^ .gov - Top-Level Domain. IANA.
2. ^ [https://www.dotgov.gov/help_qualify.aspx Eligibility Requirements]. General Services Administration.
3. ^ [https://www.dotgov.gov/auth_letter.aspx Authorization Letter]. General Services Administration.
4. ^ [https://www.dotgov.gov/final_rule_102.aspx#10217335 Who authorizes domain names?]. General Services Administration.
5. ^ [https://www.dotgov.gov/final_rule_102.aspx#10217350 Sec. 102-173.50 What is the naming convention for States?]. General Services Administration.

External links

  • IANA .gov whois information
  • RFC 920 defined .com and the other original top-level domains.
  • RFC 2146 (U.S. Government Internet Domain Names)
  •  • [ e] Generic top-level domains
Unsponsored .biz  .com  .edu  .gov  .info  .int  .mil  .name  .net  .org
Sponsored .aero  .asia  .cat  .coop  .jobs  .mobi  .museum  .pro  .tel  .travel
Infrastructure .arpa  .root
Proposed .berlin  .bzh  .cym  .gal  .geo  .kid  .kids  .lat  .mail  .nyc  .post  .sco  .web  .xxx
Deleted/retired .nato
Reserved .example  .invalid  .localhost  .test
Pseudo-domains .bitnet  .csnet  .ip  .local  .onion  .uucp
Unofficial see Alternative DNS roots
See also: Country code top-level domains
20th century - 21st century
1950s  1960s  1970s  - 1980s -  1990s  2000s  2010s
1982 1983 1984 - 1985 - 1986 1987 1988

Year 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar).
..... Click the link for more information.
A generic top-level domain (gTLD) is a top-level domain used (at least in theory) by a particular class of organization. These are three or more letters long, and are named for the type of organization that they represent (for example, .com for commercial organizations).
..... Click the link for more information.
The General Services Administration (GSA) is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. The GSA supplies products and communications for U.S.
..... Click the link for more information.
government is a body that has the power to make and the authority to enforce rules and laws within a civil, corporate, religious, academic, or other organization or group.[1]
..... Click the link for more information.
Motto
"In God We Trust"   (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum"   ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
..... Click the link for more information.
A generic top-level domain (gTLD) is a top-level domain used (at least in theory) by a particular class of organization. These are three or more letters long, and are named for the type of organization that they represent (for example, .com for commercial organizations).
..... Click the link for more information.
government is a body that has the power to make and the authority to enforce rules and laws within a civil, corporate, religious, academic, or other organization or group.[1]
..... Click the link for more information.
Motto
"In God We Trust"   (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum"   ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
..... Click the link for more information.
The General Services Administration (GSA) is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. The GSA supplies products and communications for U.S.
..... Click the link for more information.
Independent agencies of the United States government are those that exist outside of the departments of the executive branch. Established through separate statutes passed by the U.S.
..... Click the link for more information.
United States of America

This article is part of the series:
Politics and government of
the United States


Federal government
Constitution
Taxation

President Vice President
Cabinet


Congress
Senate
..... Click the link for more information.
Uniform Resource Locator (URL) formerly known as Universal Resource Locator, is a technical, Web-related term used in two distinct meanings:
  • In popular usage, many technical documents, it is a synonym for Uniform Resource Identifier (URI);

..... Click the link for more information.
A country code top-level domain (ccTLD) is an Internet top-level domain generally used or reserved for a country or a dependent territory.

ccTLD identifiers are two letters long, and all two-letter top-level domains are ccTLDs.
..... Click the link for more information.
The ARPANET, developed by DARPA of the United States Department of Defense, was the world's first operational packet switching network, and the predecessor of the global Internet.
..... Click the link for more information.
Anthem
Advance Australia Fair [1]


Capital Canberra

Largest city Sydney
..... Click the link for more information.
Motto
En unión y libertad   (Spanish)
"In Union and Freedom"
Anthem
Himno Nacional Argentino
..... Click the link for more information.
Motto
Libertad o muerte   (Spanish)
"Freedom or death"
Anthem
Himno Nacional Uruguayo
..... Click the link for more information.
Anthem
"God Defend New Zealand"
"God Save the Queen" 1


Capital Wellington

Largest city Auckland
..... Click the link for more information.
"NZ" can mean:-
  • the country of New Zealand
  • the IATA Airline Designator for Air New Zealand
  • .nz is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for New Zealand
  • Novozymes - Danish biotech company, part of the Novo Group.

..... Click the link for more information.
Motto
"Dieu et mon droit" [2]   (French)
"God and my right"
Anthem
"God Save the Queen" [3]
..... Click the link for more information.
.gc.ca is a privately held second level domain for the Government of Canada, run by Government Telecommunications and Informatics Services. They hold all third level domains under the .gc.ca banner.

External links

  • http://registry.gc.ca
  • http://www.gc.

..... Click the link for more information.
This page is currently protected from editing until disputes have been resolved.
Protection is not an endorsement of the current [ version] ([ protection log]).
..... Click the link for more information.
Motto
Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité
"Liberty, Equality, Fraternity"
Anthem
"La Marseillaise"


..... Click the link for more information.
Motto

(each main institution has its own motto)
Anthem
Deşteaptă-te, române!


..... Click the link for more information.
top-level domain (TLD) is the last part of an Internet domain name; that is, the letters which follow the final dot of any domain name. For example, in the domain name www.example.
..... Click the link for more information.
Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism.
If you are prevented from editing this page, and you wish to make a change, please discuss changes on the talk page, request unprotection, log in, or .
..... Click the link for more information.
Department of Defense redirects here. For the defense departments in governments of other countries, see defence ministry.

United States
Department of Defense
..... Click the link for more information.
.mil

Introduced 1985
TLD type Generic top-level domain
Status Active
Registry Defense Information Systems Agency
Sponsor None
Intended use Military entities
Actual use Agencies, services and divisions of the United States Department of Defense
..... Click the link for more information.
.com

Introduced 1985
TLD type Generic top-level domain
Status Active
Registry VeriSign
Sponsor None
Intended use Commercial entities (worldwide)
Actual use Used for virtually any commercial or non-commercial website and is generally accepted as the standard
..... Click the link for more information.
United States Postal Service

Government agency
Founded 1776
Headquarters Washington, D.C.

Key people John E. Potter, Postmaster General
Industry Courier
Products First Class mail, Domestic Mail, Logistics
Revenue $72.
..... Click the link for more information.


This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia.org - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the wikipedia encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.
Herod_Archelaus


page counter