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Network Working Group                         Federal Networking CouncilRequest For Comments: 2146                                      May 1997Category: InformationalObsoletes:1816U.S. Government Internet Domain NamesStatus of this Memo   This memo provides information for the Internet community.  This memo   does not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of   this memo is unlimited.Abstract   This memo provides an update and clarification toRFC 1816.  This   document describes the registration policies for the top-level domain   ".GOV".  The purpose of the domain is to provide naming conventions   that identify US Federal government agencies in order to facilitate   access to their electronic resources.  This memo provides guidance   for registrations by Federal Agencies that avoids name duplication   and facilitates responsiveness to the public.  It restricts   registrations to coincide with the approved structure of the US   government and the advice of its Chief Information Officers.  Two   documents are recognized as constituting documentation on the US   government structure: FIPS 95-1 provides a standard recognized   structure into which domain registrations for .GOV and FED.US can   fit; and, the US Government Manual [3], a special publication of the   Federal Register, provides official documentation of the government   structure. The latter document may be subject to more timely updates   than the former.  Either document is suitable for determining which   entities qualify for second-level domain registration within .GOV and   FED.US.   As a side effect, this RFC reduces the number of .GOV and FED.US   level registrations and reduces the workload on the registration   authority.  Previous versions of this document did not address the   FED.US domain.  This document anticipates the migration of the .GOV   domain into the FED.US domain, in keeping with common practice on the   Internet today.Federal Networking Council   Informational                      [Page 1]

RFC 2146         U.S. Government Internet Domain Names          May 1997U.S. GOVERNMENT INTERNET DOMAIN NAMES POLICY   The .GOV domain is delegated from the root authority to the US   Federal Networking Council.  The .GOV domain is for registration of   US governmental entities on the federal level only.  Registrations   for state and local governmental agencies shall be made under the .US   domain in accordance with the policies for that domain.  Further   references in this document to .GOV should be understood to apply to   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 easily   recognized acronym is suggested.  The following paragraphs enumerate   the types of agencies eligible for registration and the types that   are not eligible:         1) The document "Codes for the Identification of Federal and      Federally Assisted Organizations", FIPS 95-1 (or its successor)      lists the official names of US Government agencies.  Either that      document or the US Government Manual can be used to determine that      an entity is eligible for registration as a second level domain of      .GOV.              A) Top-level entities (e.g., those in FIPS 95-1 with codes         ending in 00 such a"1200 Department of Agriculture"), those in         the US Government Manual listed as "Departments, Independent         Establishments (not Corporations), and all the Boards,         Commissions, and Committees"), and independent agencies and         organizations (e.g., "National Science Foundation" and other         non-indented listings unless prohibited below) as listed in         this document are eligible for registration directly under         .GOV.              B) Cross-agency collaborative organizations (e.g.,         "Federal Networking Council", "Information Infrastructure Task         Force") are eligible for registration under .GOV upon         presentation of the chartering document and are the only non-         FIPS-listed or non-US-Government-Manual-listed organizations         eligible for registration under .GOV.              C) Subsidiary, non-autonomous components of top-level or         other entities are not eligible for separate registration.         International organizations listed in this document are NOT         eligible for registration under .GOV.  Subsidiary components         should register as third-level domains under their parent         organization.  Other Federal entities may apply to the FED.US         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 and         should register under .ORG or other appropriate top-level         domain that reflects their status.              E) Organizations subsidiary to "Department of Defense"         must register under the ".MIL" domain via the Defense Data         Network Information Center - contact registrar@nic.ddn.mil.              F) Other entities may be registered by request of a         cognizant Chief Information Officer (CIO); CIO's are those         agency officials designated by the agency head in accordance         with the requirements of the Information Technology Management         Reform Act of 1996 and Executive Order 13011.              G) Federal Courts constitute a special class of domains.         All Federal courts seeking domain registrations should contact         the Administrative Office of the US Courts for their guidance         on policy and naming.            a) The string "SUPREME-COURT" is reserved for the Supreme            Court domain.            b) All other courts and their officers and officials should            register in .USCOURTS.GOV.  The only standard exceptions to            these rules are changes to governmental structure due to            statutory, regulatory or executive directives not yet            reflected in the above document.  The requesting agency            should provide documentation in one of the above forms to            request an exception.  Other requests for exception should            be referred to the Federal Networking Council.         2) A domain name should be derived from the official name for      the organization (e.g., "USDA.Gov" or "AGRICULTURE.GOV".)  The      registration shall be listed in the registration database under      the official name (per FIPS 95-1 or US Government Manual) for the      organization or under the name in the chartering document.         3) Only ONE registration and delegation shall be made for the      purpose of identifying an agency.  The .GOV registration authority      shall provide registrations on a first-come first-served basis.      It is an individual agency matter as to which portion of the      agency is responsible for managing the domain space under a      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 registrations      under .GOV may retain them until August 1998, but sub-delegations      will be permitted only under the one name chosen by the agency as      its permanent name.  As of August 1996, the auxiliary domains will      become un-delegated and will revert to the control of the .GOV      owner.  As of 2 August 1997, all registrations in the auxiliary      domains must be mirrored in the permanent domain and those names      should be used where possible. At the three year point, all      auxiliary domain registrations will be deleted (August 1998).         5) Those agencies and entities already registered in .GOV but      not listed in FIPS 95-1 (e.g., DOE labs, state entities) or the US      Government Manual may retain their registration within the      constraint of the single registration rule (see para 4).  No      further non-listed registrations will be made.  State and local      entities are strongly encouraged to re-register under .US, but      this is not mandatory.REFERENCES      [1] Federal Information Processing Standards Publication 95-1   (FIPS PUB 95-1), "Codes for the Identification of Federal and   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",RFC1591, USC/Information Sciences Institute, March 1994.      [3] US Government Manual,  Office of the Federal Register,   National Archives and Records Administration, Washington DC 20804.CLARIFICATION      * Registrations prior to August 1995 are grand-fathered and do NOT   require re-registration with the exception of duplicate registrations   for the SAME organization at the same level.  E.g., 2 registrations   that represent the Department of Transportation would be considered   duplicates.  Registrations for each of the Department of   Transportation and the FAA would not.  (The FAA is an autonomous   component contained within the DOT).      * The policy requires resolution of all duplicate registrations by   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 may   remain there.  However, they are strongly encouraged to transfer to   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 / ANSWERS   EXISTING .GOV REGISTRATIONS         Q.  What are examples of FIPS 95-1 Departments possessing      duplicate top-level domain names, and what guidance has been given      to them regarding these names?         A.  Examples of FIPS 95-1 Departments with duplicate DNS'      include "STATE.GOV" and "LABOR.GOV".  These departments had six      months (until December 1996) to determine which name is permanent      and which is auxiliary and three years to drop the auxiliary      registration.         Q.  Currently, our services are defined as www.cdc.gov,      ftp.cdc.gov,  and gopher.cdc.gov.  Does this proposal mean that      our names will now be: www.ntb.ops.cdc.phs.dhhs.gov, etc or at a      minimum: www.cdc.phs.dhhs.gov, ftp.cdc.phs.dhhs.gov, and      gopher.cdc.phs.dhhs.gov?         A.  In the case of CDC, NIST, NIH, FDA, and the numerous other      non-FIPS-95-1 agencies registered with ".GOV" domains, there will      be no changes.  The existing DNS' of these agencies are grand-      fathered under this policy.  In addition, the policy effects only      the domains allowed to be registered directly under .GOV; further      delegations are under the control of the sub-domain owner.  For      the above, assuming the HHS sub-domain owner concurs, there is no      problem with the HHS registering "cdc.dhhs.gov" as a sub-domain of      "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 be      addressed?         A. The existing domain names will be grand-fathered, i.e.,      LBL.GOV.  Any new registrations will generally be within the      domain of the sponsoring agency (and subject to agency policies),      within the .US domain as a geographic entity, or within the FED.US      domain.         Q.  What are some examples of state government agencies      registered under ".GOV" domain?  Will they need to change their      DNS?         A.  Examples of cities and states that originally registered      under the .GOV include:  WA.GOV Department of Information      Services, State of Washington LA.GOV Bureau of Sanitation, City of      Los Angeles These entities are strongly encouraged to re-register      in the .US domain but this is NOT mandatory.  No further state and      local agencies will be registered under .GOV.         Q.  It is not in anyone's best interest to name things by      organizational boundaries as these things change. Internet domain      names and host names, once defined and used, become so widely      distributed that they become virtually impossible to change.         A.  The policy does not require organizations to change their      names once established, but individual agency policies may.  The      DNS system contains some capabilities to assist in name transition      - the CNAME record provides a capability for cross-domain aliases      which can be used to ease a transition between one name space and      another.  As noted in the clarifications, naming and sub-domain      conventions WITHIN an agency or department DNS delegation are      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?  How      does this apply to NIH.GOV, FDA.GOV, and CDC.GOV, all of which are      large components of DHHS/PHS?  NCIFCRF.GOV is a component of NIH.      Does it have to change?  I don't understand how a distinction is      made if some are grand-fathered and some are not.        A. US-STATE.GOV and STATE.GOV for example.  The problem is      actually one entity with two names.  NIH.GOV and FDA.GOV represent      separate entities (albeit within DHHS).  If there were an NIH.GOV      and an NIH-EAST.GOV for example, NIH would have to eliminate one      of them (probably moving NIH-EAST.GOV to EAST.NIH.GOV).         Q.  How much is the taxpayer being asked to spend to alter tens      of thousands of existing computer and telecommunications systems      to support this RFC?         A. In August 1995 less that half-a-dozen duplicate DNS names at      the FIPS 95-1 level needed to be changed.  Given the fact that      this will be accomplished over three years, the costs should be      minimal.   CROSS-AGENCY COLLABORATIONS         Q.  An organization maintains a domain name that represents a      cross-agency community, IC.GOV, which represents members of the      intelligence community.  As a cross-agency collaborative effort,      does the domain have to be re-registered?      A.  The policy states that "Cross-agency collaborative      organizations (e.g., "Federal Networking Council", "Information      Infrastructure Task Force") are eligible for registration under      .GOV upon presentation of the chartering document and are the only      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 the      chartering document to the FNC for the record.  This would ease      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 REGISTRATIONS        Q.Top level domains are roughly equivalent to cabinet-level      agencies identified in FIPS 95-1.  What will happen if non-FIPS      95-1 entities apply for the ".GOV" registration in the future?        A.  The registrar will use this RFC as guidance and will not      grant the ".GOV" to any new entity which is not listed in the FIPS      95-1 or the US Government Manual or which has not been granted an      exception status by the FNC Executive Committee.         Q.  Suppose NIH were moved to a new Dept. of Science?  Would      our domain name have to be changed?         A.  NIH.GOV is grand-fathered under the existing policy and      would not change.  The "Department of Science" under its own      policies may require you to re-register though.   FNC INTENT         Q.  It is unclear how this will policy will facilitate access      by the public to our information, especially since most of the      public doesn't know our organizational structure or that CDC is      part of DHHS/PHS.         A. The policy attempts to avoid confusion as an increasing      number of entities register under the ".GOV" domain and to      transfer authority and responsibility for domain name space to the      appropriate agencies and away from a centralized authority.  For      facilitating access, various tools and capabilities are coming      into use on the Internet all the time.  Most of these tools      provide a fairly strong search capability which should obviate      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 the      organizations within the .GOV domain in stark contrast toSection1F that grants .MIL domain organizations full freedom to operate      sub-domains in any manner chosen.         A.  The Federal Networking Council has jurisdiction over the      .GOV domain names; .MIL domain names fall within the jurisdiction      of the Department of Defense.  The .MIL domain has had a written      policy delimiting which DOD agencies get registered directly under      .MIL since about 1987 when the DNS first started to come into use.      Individual agencies under the .MIL domain (e.g., AF.MIL/US Air      Force) are responsible for setting policy within their domains and      for registrations within those domains.  This is exactly      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 as      being "autonomous" for the purposes of domain registration.  What      is the selection criteria for an "autonomous law enforcement"      agency?  For instance, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is      responsible for law enforcement as is the Bureau of Alcohol,      Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF).        A.  The selection criteria for "law enforcement agency" is based      on primary mission.  A case could be made for either or both of      these being law enforcement agencies, although the IRS' primary      mission is tax revenue collection and has few armed officers      relative to its size.  An "autonomous" agency is one with mission      and role distinct and (possibly) separate from its containing      department.  Unfortunately, FIPS 95-1 does not do a good job of      identifying "autonomous" entities.  In the event of problems with      registration, ask the registrar to get a ruling from the      registration authority.   ROUTING QUESTIONS        Q.  How will Domain Name Service resolution on the Internet      work?  Instead of a root DNS server returning the address of      CDC.GOV and immediately directing inquires to our DNS servers,      will the root server return a DNS pointer to DHHS, then DHHS will      resolve to PHS, then a fourth DNS query to get to CDC?  This will      add unnecessary traffic to the Net.  (example is the host      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 previous      answers - they may have to ask once, but generally remember the      answer if they need it again. Information directly under .GOV will      be fairly long-lived which substantially reduces the requirement      to query .GOV server.  Secondly, multiple levels of the DNS tree      MAY reside on the same server.  In the above example the      information for DHHS.GOV, PHS.DHHS.GOV and CDC.PHS.DHHS.GOV could      all reside on the same server.  Assuming the  location of the      DHHS.GOV server was not cached, it would require two queries.      Further queries would cache the location of this server and the      servers associated with the domains it serves.  Lastly, the      individual agencies may structure their domains as they please.      CDC could reside directly under DHHS.GOV as CDC.DHHS.GOV subject      to HHS's own policies.   USING DNS FOR ADVERTISING SERVICES         Q.  How can agencies utilize domain names for public service      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 are      effective for such purposes.  Moreover, while it may appear a      reasonable assumption, we know of no evidence to show that using      even commonly know agency, program or service names as domain      names in fact, facilitates locating any particular program or      service.  Indeed, we find it as reasonable to conclude that, by      using freely available search engines, a user could locate      responsive information before they would successfully "guess" the      appropriate domain name. If the agency CIO deems it advisable to      pursue "advertising via domain names," the agency should use WHOIS      utility (e.g., whois EXAMPLE.COM or whois EXAMPLE.ORG) to      determine if similar or conflicting names with other domains such      as .COM or .ORG before proceeding.  Any advertising value may be      lost if the same or similar names exist within more than one      domain.Federal Networking Council   Informational                     [Page 10]

RFC 2146         U.S. Government Internet Domain Names          May 1997   PREVENTING SIMILAR NAMES IN OTHER TOP-LEVEL DOMAINS         Q:  Our agency spent a lot of time coming up with an intuitive      domain name and now we find out that the same name exists in .COM      and .ORG and is confusing to our customers, they don't know if it      is really our site or not.  How can we prevent this use of our      domain name?         A.  The only practical way is to register your name in all      available domains and hold them.  We say hold (do not use) them      for the same reasons that you don't want your site spoofed --      customer uncertainly as to whether they are in fact at a      government site.  The implications of Federal agencies using other      than .GOV or FED.US is a policy matter under the statutory      authorities of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of      the Office of Management and Budget.  Agency  CIOs should consult      with OMB prior to using domain names other than .GOV or .FED.US.   THIRD-LEVEL DOMAINS:  CONTACTING THE SECOND-LEVEL DOMAIN   ADMINISTRATOR.         Q. I don't mind having a third-level domain registration, but      my parent agency does not have a second level domain or does not      provide third-level registration services.  What can I do?        A.  In the first case, the registration authority can usually      provide contact information for an appropriate second level      domain.  If not, an exception may be granted by the registration      authority.  In the second case, make sure that you contact the      official administrative contact for the second level domain by      using the information returned by the "whois" command, e.g. "whois      STATE.GOV".  The domain administrators have the responsibility of      providing third-level registration services. If an exception is      granted because there is no appropriate second level domain, it      will only be valid for two years after the subsequent      establishment of an appropriate domain. After that time, the      exception domain must register in the appropriate second-level      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 conflicts      with a .COM or other top-level domain?        A.  When requesting exceptions to this policy, applicants should      consider the limitations of the domain naming scheme.  Many common      words and terms are already used in .COM, the largest TLD at this      time, and it may be ineffective to use the same name in .GOV.   US GOVERNMENT MANUAL         Q. How can I get the US Government Manual?         A.  Contact Superintendent of Documents                P.O. Box 371954                Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7954      or seehttp://www.access/gpo.gov/su_docs and follow the links to      US government information.SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS      The integrity of the information in the DNS databases and made   available through network protocols is not reliable in the Internet   environment without additional cryptographic controls or secure   lines.  Agencies with secure internal network lines may be able to   count on the internal naming information as accurate, but users on   the Internet cannot.  The DNS system may be enhanced by the use of   digital signatures on the provided information; as this software   becomes available, .GOV SLD administrators are encouraged to use it   provide a secure binding for the information associated with DNS   names.Author's Address      Federal Networking Council      4001 N. Fairfax Drive      Arlington, VA 22203      Phone: (703) 522-6410      EMail: execdir@fnc.gov      URL:http://www.fnc.govFederal Networking Council   Informational                     [Page 12]