As per Relevance of the word registration, we have this rfc below:
Network Working Group Federal Networking
Request For Comments: 2146 May 1997
Category:
Obsoletes: 1816
U.S. Government Internet Domain
Status of this
This memo provides information for the Internet community. This
does not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution
this memo is unlimited
This memo provides an update and clarification to RFC 1816.
document describes the registration policies for the top-level
".GOV". The purpose of the domain is to provide naming
that identify US Federal government agencies in order to
access to their electronic resources. This memo provides
for registrations by Federal Agencies that avoids name
and facilitates responsiveness to the public. It
registrations to coincide with the approved structure of the
government and the advice of its Chief Information Officers.
documents are recognized as constituting documentation on the
government structure: FIPS 95-1 provides a standard
structure into which domain registrations for .GOV and FED.US
fit; and, the US Government Manual [3], a special publication of
Federal Register, provides official documentation of the
structure. The latter document may be subject to more timely
than the former. Either document is suitable for determining
entities qualify for second-level domain registration within .GOV
FED.US
As a side effect, this RFC reduces the number of .GOV and FED.
level registrations and reduces the workload on the
authority. Previous versions of this document did not address
FED.US domain. This document anticipates the migration of the .
domain into the FED.US domain, in keeping with common practice on
Internet today
Federal Networking Council Informational [Page 1]
RFC 2146 U.S. Government Internet Domain Names May 1997
U.S. GOVERNMENT INTERNET DOMAIN NAMES
The .GOV domain is delegated from the root authority to the
Federal Networking Council. The .GOV domain is for registration
US governmental entities on the federal level only.
for state and local governmental agencies shall be made under the .
domain in accordance with the policies for that domain.
references in this document to .GOV should be understood to apply
FED.US as well. The most succinct form of the policy is "one agency
one name". The agency may choose its own name, but an
recognized acronym is suggested. The following paragraphs
the types of agencies eligible for registration and the types
are not eligible
1) The document "Codes for the Identification of Federal
Federally Assisted Organizations", FIPS 95-1 (or its successor
lists the official names of US Government agencies. Either
document or the US Government Manual can be used to determine
an entity is eligible for registration as a second level domain
.GOV
A) Top-level entities (e.g., those in FIPS 95-1 with
ending in 00 such a"1200 Department of Agriculture"), those
the US Government Manual listed as "Departments,
Establishments (not Corporations), and all the Boards
Commissions, and Committees"), and independent agencies
organizations (e.g., "National Science Foundation" and
non-indented listings unless prohibited below) as listed
this document are eligible for registration directly
.GOV
B) Cross-agency collaborative organizations (e.g.,
"Federal Networking Council", "Information Infrastructure
Force") are eligible for registration under .GOV
presentation of the chartering document and are the only non
FIPS-listed or non-US-Government-Manual-listed
eligible for registration under .GOV
C) Subsidiary, non-autonomous components of top-level
other entities are not eligible for separate registration
International organizations listed in this document are
eligible for registration under .GOV. Subsidiary
should register as third-level domains under their
organization. Other Federal entities may apply to the FED.
domain
Federal Networking Council Informational [Page 2]
RFC 2146 U.S. Government Internet Domain Names May 1997
D) Organizations listed as "Federally Aided Organizations
in FIPS 95-1 are not eligible for registration under .GOV
should register under .ORG or other appropriate top-
domain that reflects their status
E) Organizations subsidiary to "Department of Defense
must register under the ".MIL" domain via the Defense
Network Information Center - contact registrar@nic.ddn.mil
F) Other entities may be registered by request of
cognizant Chief Information Officer (CIO); CIO's are
agency officials designated by the agency head in
with the requirements of the Information Technology
Reform Act of 1996 and Executive Order 13011.
G) Federal Courts constitute a special class of domains
All Federal courts seeking domain registrations should
the Administrative Office of the US Courts for their
on policy and naming
a) The string "SUPREME-COURT" is reserved for the
Court domain
b) All other courts and their officers and officials
register in .USCOURTS.GOV. The only standard exceptions
these rules are changes to governmental structure due
statutory, regulatory or executive directives not
reflected in the above document. The requesting
should provide documentation in one of the above forms
request an exception. Other requests for exception
be referred to the Federal Networking Council
2) A domain name should be derived from the official name
the organization (e.g., "USDA.Gov" or "AGRICULTURE.GOV".)
registration shall be listed in the registration database
the official name (per FIPS 95-1 or US Government Manual) for
organization or under the name in the chartering document
3) Only ONE registration and delegation shall be made for
purpose of identifying an agency. The .GOV registration
shall provide registrations on a first-come first-served basis
It is an individual agency matter as to which portion of
agency is responsible for managing the domain space under
delegated agency domain
Federal Networking Council Informational [Page 3]
RFC 2146 U.S. Government Internet Domain Names May 1997
4) Those agencies and entities that had multiple
under .GOV may retain them until August 1998, but sub-
will be permitted only under the one name chosen by the agency
its permanent name. As of August 1996, the auxiliary domains
become un-delegated and will revert to the control of the .
owner. As of 2 August 1997, all registrations in the
domains must be mirrored in the permanent domain and those
should be used where possible. At the three year point,
auxiliary domain registrations will be deleted (August 1998).
5) Those agencies and entities already registered in .GOV
not listed in FIPS 95-1 (e.g., DOE labs, state entities) or the
Government Manual may retain their registration within
constraint of the single registration rule (see para 4).
further non-listed registrations will be made. State and
entities are strongly encouraged to re-register under .US,
this is not mandatory
[1] Federal Information Processing Standards Publication 95-1
(FIPS PUB 95-1), "Codes for the Identification of Federal
Federally Assisted Organizations", U.S. Department of Commerce
National Institute of Standards and Technology, January 4, 1993.
[2] Postel, J., "Domain Name System Structure and Delegation",
1591, USC/Information Sciences Institute, March 1994.
[3] US Government Manual, Office of the Federal Register
National Archives and Records Administration, Washington DC 20804.
* Registrations prior to August 1995 are grand-fathered and do
require re-registration with the exception of duplicate
for the SAME organization at the same level. E.g., 2
that represent the Department of Transportation would be
duplicates. Registrations for each of the Department
Transportation and the FAA would not. (The FAA is an
component contained within the DOT).
* The policy requires resolution of all duplicate registrations
August 1998.
Federal Networking Council Informational [Page 4]
RFC 2146 U.S. Government Internet Domain Names May 1997
* Local and state agencies registered under the ".GOV" domain
remain there. However, they are strongly encouraged to transfer
the .US domain
* Cross-agency collaborative efforts may register under "FED.US
as an alternative to asking for an exception to the .GOV policy
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS /
EXISTING .GOV
Q. What are examples of FIPS 95-1 Departments
duplicate top-level domain names, and what guidance has been
to them regarding these names
A. Examples of FIPS 95-1 Departments with duplicate DNS
include "STATE.GOV" and "LABOR.GOV". These departments had
months (until December 1996) to determine which name is
and which is auxiliary and three years to drop the
registration
Q. Currently, our services are defined as www.cdc.gov
ftp.cdc.gov, and gopher.cdc.gov. Does this proposal mean
our names will now be: www.ntb.ops.cdc.phs.dhhs.gov, etc or at
minimum: www.cdc.phs.dhhs.gov, ftp.cdc.phs.dhhs.gov,
gopher.cdc.phs.dhhs.gov
A. In the case of CDC, NIST, NIH, FDA, and the numerous
non-FIPS-95-1 agencies registered with ".GOV" domains, there
be no changes. The existing DNS' of these agencies are grand
fathered under this policy. In addition, the policy effects
the domains allowed to be registered directly under .GOV;
delegations are under the control of the sub-domain owner.
the above, assuming the HHS sub-domain owner concurs, there is
problem with the HHS registering "cdc.dhhs.gov" as a sub-domain
"dhhs.gov".
Federal Networking Council Informational [Page 5]
RFC 2146 U.S. Government Internet Domain Names May 1997
Q. How will registrations by Federal Laboratories
addressed
A. The existing domain names will be grand-fathered, i.e.,
LBL.GOV. Any new registrations will generally be within
domain of the sponsoring agency (and subject to agency policies),
within the .US domain as a geographic entity, or within the FED.
domain
Q. What are some examples of state government
registered under ".GOV" domain? Will they need to change
DNS
A. Examples of cities and states that originally
under the .GOV include: WA.GOV Department of
Services, State of Washington LA.GOV Bureau of Sanitation, City
Los Angeles These entities are strongly encouraged to re-
in the .US domain but this is NOT mandatory. No further state
local agencies will be registered under .GOV
Q. It is not in anyone's best interest to name things
organizational boundaries as these things change. Internet
names and host names, once defined and used, become so
distributed that they become virtually impossible to change
A. The policy does not require organizations to change
names once established, but individual agency policies may.
DNS system contains some capabilities to assist in name
- the CNAME record provides a capability for cross-domain
which can be used to ease a transition between one name space
another. As noted in the clarifications, naming and sub-
conventions WITHIN an agency or department DNS delegation
solely the province of that entity
Federal Networking Council Informational [Page 6]
RFC 2146 U.S. Government Internet Domain Names May 1997
Q. How can two entities have the same name registered?
does this apply to NIH.GOV, FDA.GOV, and CDC.GOV, all of which
large components of DHHS/PHS? NCIFCRF.GOV is a component of NIH
Does it have to change? I don't understand how a distinction
made if some are grand-fathered and some are not
A. US-STATE.GOV and STATE.GOV for example. The problem
actually one entity with two names. NIH.GOV and FDA.GOV
separate entities (albeit within DHHS). If there were an NIH.
and an NIH-EAST.GOV for example, NIH would have to eliminate
of them (probably moving NIH-EAST.GOV to EAST.NIH.GOV).
Q. How much is the taxpayer being asked to spend to alter
of thousands of existing computer and telecommunications
to support this RFC
A. In August 1995 less that half-a-dozen duplicate DNS names
the FIPS 95-1 level needed to be changed. Given the fact
this will be accomplished over three years, the costs should
minimal
CROSS-AGENCY
Q. An organization maintains a domain name that represents
cross-agency community, IC.GOV, which represents members of
intelligence community. As a cross-agency collaborative effort
does the domain have to be re-registered
A. The policy states that "Cross-agency
organizations (e.g., "Federal Networking Council", "
Infrastructure Task Force") are eligible for registration
.GOV upon presentation of the chartering document and are the
non-listed (in either FIPS 95-1 or the US Government Manual
organizations eligible for registration under .GOV." "IC.GOV
however, is grand-fathered since it is an existing domain
Nevertheless, it would be appropriate to provide a copy of
chartering document to the FNC for the record. This would
future changes to the IC.GOV domain if necessary
Federal Networking Council Informational [Page 7]
RFC 2146 U.S. Government Internet Domain Names May 1997
FUTURE .GOV
Q.Top level domains are roughly equivalent to cabinet-
agencies identified in FIPS 95-1. What will happen if non-
95-1 entities apply for the ".GOV" registration in the future
A. The registrar will use this RFC as guidance and will
grant the ".GOV" to any new entity which is not listed in the
95-1 or the US Government Manual or which has not been granted
exception status by the FNC Executive Committee
Q. Suppose NIH were moved to a new Dept. of Science?
our domain name have to be changed
A. NIH.GOV is grand-fathered under the existing policy
would not change. The "Department of Science" under its
policies may require you to re-register though
FNC
Q. It is unclear how this will policy will facilitate
by the public to our information, especially since most of
public doesn't know our organizational structure or that CDC
part of DHHS/PHS
A. The policy attempts to avoid confusion as an
number of entities register under the ".GOV" domain and
transfer authority and responsibility for domain name space to
appropriate agencies and away from a centralized authority.
facilitating access, various tools and capabilities are
into use on the Internet all the time. Most of these
provide a fairly strong search capability which should
most concerns of finding resources based on domain names
Federal Networking Council Informational [Page 8]
RFC 2146 U.S. Government Internet Domain Names May 1997
Q. Section 1D of this document unfairly constrains
organizations within the .GOV domain in stark contrast to
1F that grants .MIL domain organizations full freedom to
sub-domains in any manner chosen
A. The Federal Networking Council has jurisdiction over
.GOV domain names; .MIL domain names fall within the
of the Department of Defense. The .MIL domain has had a
policy delimiting which DOD agencies get registered directly
.MIL since about 1987 when the DNS first started to come into use
Individual agencies under the .MIL domain (e.g., AF.MIL/US
Force) are responsible for setting policy within their domains
for registrations within those domains. This is
equivalent to the .GOV domain - an individual agency (e.g.,
Treasury.GOV/Dept of Treasury) may and should set policy for sub
registrations within their domain
Q. Section 1B identifies several law enforcement agencies
being "autonomous" for the purposes of domain registration.
is the selection criteria for an "autonomous law enforcement
agency? For instance, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
responsible for law enforcement as is the Bureau of Alcohol
Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF).
A. The selection criteria for "law enforcement agency" is
on primary mission. A case could be made for either or both
these being law enforcement agencies, although the IRS'
mission is tax revenue collection and has few armed
relative to its size. An "autonomous" agency is one with
and role distinct and (possibly) separate from its
department. Unfortunately, FIPS 95-1 does not do a good job
identifying "autonomous" entities. In the event of problems
registration, ask the registrar to get a ruling from
registration authority
ROUTING
Q. How will Domain Name Service resolution on the
work? Instead of a root DNS server returning the address
CDC.GOV and immediately directing inquires to our DNS servers
will the root server return a DNS pointer to DHHS, then DHHS
resolve to PHS, then a fourth DNS query to get to CDC? This
add unnecessary traffic to the Net. (example is the
CDC.PHS.DHHS.GOV
Federal Networking Council Informational [Page 9]
RFC 2146 U.S. Government Internet Domain Names May 1997
A. The answer is based on how you (personally and agency wide
configure your servers. First, most servers cache
answers - they may have to ask once, but generally remember
answer if they need it again. Information directly under .GOV
be fairly long-lived which substantially reduces the
to query .GOV server. Secondly, multiple levels of the DNS
MAY reside on the same server. In the above example
information for DHHS.GOV, PHS.DHHS.GOV and CDC.PHS.DHHS.GOV
all reside on the same server. Assuming the location of
DHHS.GOV server was not cached, it would require two queries
Further queries would cache the location of this server and
servers associated with the domains it serves. Lastly,
individual agencies may structure their domains as they please
CDC could reside directly under DHHS.GOV as CDC.DHHS.GOV
to HHS's own policies
USING DNS FOR ADVERTISING
Q. How can agencies utilize domain names for public
announcements such as regulatory information, health services
etc.?
A. The use of Domain Names for "advertising" is not encouraged
and there is no empirical data showing that Domain Names
effective for such purposes. Moreover, while it may appear
reasonable assumption, we know of no evidence to show that
even commonly know agency, program or service names as
names in fact, facilitates locating any particular program
service. Indeed, we find it as reasonable to conclude that,
using freely available search engines, a user could
responsive information before they would successfully "guess"
appropriate domain name. If the agency CIO deems it advisable
pursue "advertising via domain names," the agency should use
utility (e.g., whois EXAMPLE.COM or whois EXAMPLE.ORG)
determine if similar or conflicting names with other domains
as .COM or .ORG before proceeding. Any advertising value may
lost if the same or similar names exist within more than
domain
Federal Networking Council Informational [Page 10]
RFC 2146 U.S. Government Internet Domain Names May 1997
PREVENTING SIMILAR NAMES IN OTHER TOP-LEVEL
Q: Our agency spent a lot of time coming up with an
domain name and now we find out that the same name exists in .
and .ORG and is confusing to our customers, they don't know if
is really our site or not. How can we prevent this use of
domain name
A. The only practical way is to register your name in
available domains and hold them. We say hold (do not use)
for the same reasons that you don't want your site spoofed --
customer uncertainly as to whether they are in fact at
government site. The implications of Federal agencies using
than .GOV or FED.US is a policy matter under the
authorities of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
the Office of Management and Budget. Agency CIOs should
with OMB prior to using domain names other than .GOV or .FED.US
THIRD-LEVEL DOMAINS: CONTACTING THE SECOND-LEVEL
ADMINISTRATOR
Q. I don't mind having a third-level domain registration,
my parent agency does not have a second level domain or does
provide third-level registration services. What can I do
A. In the first case, the registration authority can
provide contact information for an appropriate second
domain. If not, an exception may be granted by the
authority. In the second case, make sure that you contact
official administrative contact for the second level domain
using the information returned by the "whois" command, e.g. "
STATE.GOV". The domain administrators have the responsibility
providing third-level registration services. If an exception
granted because there is no appropriate second level domain,
will only be valid for two years after the
establishment of an appropriate domain. After that time,
exception domain must register in the appropriate second-
domain
Federal Networking Council Informational [Page 11]
RFC 2146 U.S. Government Internet Domain Names May 1997
Q. What are the implications of using a name that
with a .COM or other top-level domain
A. When requesting exceptions to this policy, applicants
consider the limitations of the domain naming scheme. Many
words and terms are already used in .COM, the largest TLD at
time, and it may be ineffective to use the same name in .GOV
US GOVERNMENT
Q. How can I get the US Government Manual
A. Contact Superintendent of
P.O. Box 371954
Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7954
or see http://www.access/gpo.gov/su_docs and follow the links
US government information
SECURITY
The integrity of the information in the DNS databases and
available through network protocols is not reliable in the
environment without additional cryptographic controls or
lines. Agencies with secure internal network lines may be able
count on the internal naming information as accurate, but users
the Internet cannot. The DNS system may be enhanced by the use
digital signatures on the provided information; as this
becomes available, .GOV SLD administrators are encouraged to use
provide a secure binding for the information associated with
names
Author's
Federal Networking
4001 N. Fairfax
Arlington, VA 22203
Phone: (703) 522-6410
EMail: execdir@fnc.
URL: http://www.fnc.
Federal Networking Council Informational [Page 12]
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