Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Government URLs that don't end in .gov

github.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 202 posts

Re: Government URLs that don't end in .gov

#91

Post by SeanLuke »

samwillis wrote: post #11

I think it's particularly interesting that the US use .gov and not .gov.us (as a Brit). I'm sure there are oversights on who can acquire an inherently international .gov domain, but for example here in the UK .gov.uk domains have a strict application process [0] managed by central government. It just seems to me that it would be more secure, and more reassuring to citizens and visitors that they are on the correct si…

Note that .gov predates .uk. .gov was made in 1984, and .uk was issued in 1985.

Re: Government URLs that don't end in .gov

#93

Post by dudeinjapan »

pc86 wrote: post #24
dudeinjapan wrote: post #15

So every time the FBI/CIA sets up a domain for a sting operation it has to be listed here? Seems like an Achilles' heel, no?

What says it has to be listed here?

https://search.gov/about/policy/govt-urls.html

"Federal executive branch agencies must ensure their non-.gov or .mil domains are on the list."

Also on this page, there is an "out of scope" list which only includes 4 things: SaaS, cloud resources, SNS sites, and code repos. I take the govt at its word--it has never lied before--so naturally covert ops must be "in-scope".

Re: Government URLs that don't end in .gov

#94

Post by somat »

Caligatio wrote: post #7
seeknotfind wrote: post #2

We need a government root CA more than a government TLD. Domain names aren't even the only thing we should attest.

This sounds like a decent idea until you realize that means one of two options: - A US Government controlled CA root preinstalled on computers. Privacy advocates would be in arms. - Constant untrusted CA warnings when trying to access any government site.

Have you seen the state of the root ca bundle? As far as I can tell it has every national CA except the US.

Do you really trust the turkish government with the ability to sign for any domain.

Some days I consider tearing out the whole thing and rebuilding with the 3 CA's I actually care about. but then I usually give up as too much hassle.

Re: Government URLs that don't end in .gov

#95

Post by CSMastermind »

bombcar wrote: post #63
smeyer wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would hope that random "non-government related non-profits" aren't using .gov domains. Isn't the whole point of the domain that it's just for government entities?

even usps.gov just redirects to usps.com which I feel is a bit of a loss. Lots of small towns have dot coms when they could have dot gov.

It does feel like the redirect should go the other way around.

Re: Government URLs that don't end in .gov

#96

Post by pests »

School-Cotton wrote: post #43
pests wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think thats clear at all. We have three people in this thread already confused on the issue. I think the poster wasn't talking of the US government but of knowing which government a domain is related to by just looking at it. ".gov" is not clear while ".gov.uk" is clear due to the ccTLD. > but isn't .gov "clearly affiliated to and managed by" the US government I would say no. What makes it clear to you?

> What makes it clear to you? Not the OP, but also American. For me it's clear because I've never seen a US government site on a non-.gov domain (though apparently some obscure ones exist as this submission points out), nor have I ever seen a non-US-government site on .gov.

> some obscure ones exist

The submission includes over 400 domains for the federal only list. That is more than "some obscure ones"

> nor have I ever seen a non-US-government site on .gov

How often are you going to non-US-government government sites? Being an American I could imagine you hardly if ever interact with any other government sites so maybe that could be attributed to selection bias.

Re: Government URLs that don't end in .gov

#97

Post by kevin_thibedeau »

Zetice wrote: post #26
Miner49er wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's kind of implied, right? Since .gov is only for the US.

I’m surprised how many people here aren’t aware of this.

At this point most internet users are digital natives who don't know how things worked before eternal September.

Re: Government URLs that don't end in .gov

#99

Post by LelouBil »

samwillis wrote: post #11

I think it's particularly interesting that the US use .gov and not .gov.us (as a Brit). I'm sure there are oversights on who can acquire an inherently international .gov domain, but for example here in the UK .gov.uk domains have a strict application process [0] managed by central government. It just seems to me that it would be more secure, and more reassuring to citizens and visitors that they are on the correct si…

Even in France most government websites use ".gouv.fr" (gouv is short for gouvernement, aka government).

Even if it's not exactly ".gov" they still mimicked it.

Re: Government URLs that don't end in .gov

#100

Post by cobalt »

syncsynchalt wrote: post #98

The most egregious of these to me is moneyfactory.com (the Bureau of Engraving & Printing). It reads as very low-rent considering it's the printing press of the US Dollar. If they reached out to me I'd think it was a weak scam.

It might be parked to prevent scams
Post reply on HN