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Government URLs that don't end in .gov

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

#111

Post by mozman »

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…

Fun fact: I briefly had a .gov domain in the early 90s through internic until they figured out I was not a government agency

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

#112

Post by giobox »

zokier wrote: post #109
thiht wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Other countries could create their gTLD as they see fit: .gouv, .ukgov, etc. They instead prefer using a SLD (like .gouv.fr) because they’re complete owner of their ccTLD. ccTLDs are not affiliated in anyway with ICANN. I’m guessing .gov is a special case nowadays, and probably considered like a ccTLD from the ICANN point of view, I’ll have to look into it Edit: it seems like gov is considered as a Sponsored TLD[1] (…

> ccTLDs are not affiliated in anyway with ICANN ccTLDs delegations are managed by IANA, who are owned by ICANN

While its true there is still a relationship back to ICANN for ccTLDs, politically it would be a shitstorm of epic proportions if the US/ICANN interfered in the administration of ccTLDs - most countries (understandably!) see their ccTLD as an increasingly sovereign thing that is naturally owned by the State, not the registrars or domain name registration system.

While it might be technically possible for ICANN to make certain adjustments to the ccTLD system or the registration requirements, politically its much much harder and gets harder still with time. Imagine the response from most soverign states etc if their own ccTLD was meddled with in a manner they didn't appreciate.

ICANN has slowly tried to move more and more of the ccTLD stuff to international working groups ("Governmental Advisory Committee") to put clean air between the US and ccTLDs, but the link is still there:

https://gac.icann.org/

https://gac.icann.org/principles-and-guidelines/public/princ...

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

#113

Post by kortilla »

pests wrote: post #96
School-Cotton wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

I go to foreign gov sites just as frequently as US ones because I travel internationally.

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

#114

Post by bobthepanda »

remram wrote: post #12

I got an official email from New York State's Office Of The Comptroller with a link to osc.state.ny.us. It came from an email address @osc.ny.gov. I don't understand why they couldn't use an official TLD in the URL too.

.nyc is also a government TLD.

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

#115

Post by ehPReth »

brown wrote: post #102

My favorite URL oddity has to be "id.me" for U.S. Citizen identity services. Seems a bit odd to use a Montenegro domain, doesn't it?

It seems to be run by a third-party company that the government latched on to for some reason: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ID.me

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

#116

Post by CameronNemo »

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.

Apparently they also have moneyfactory.gov

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

#117

Post by frankfrankfrank »

easton wrote: post #23
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…

My guess is that it’s because the US built the thing, they decided .gov was to be for US Government sites. Then when other countries joined they got their own TLDs, which they added a .gov. to for their own purposes. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/.gov (Which seems to make my guess right, .gov is operated by the US Government)

[dead]

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

#119

Post by [deleted] »

bbno4 wrote: post #103
caseyohara wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's implied which government they are talking about because 1) .gov is only used by the US; and 2) The GitHub account is GSA - U.S. General Services Administration.

It's only implied if you're from America and know that GSA (which does not contain US in the acronym) is US.

[deleted]

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

#120

Post by School-Cotton »

pests wrote: post #96
School-Cotton wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

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

The number has nothing to do with how obscure they are.

> Being an American I could imagine you hardly if ever interact with any other government sites

I have interacted with them many times. (1) to fill out various Covid-related entry forms when those were widely required, (2) to apply for visas, (3) purely out of curiosity (e.g. I’m sometimes curious what travel warnings/advisories other countries’ foreign ministries put out and how they compare with our own).

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