.gov

{{mono|gov}} is one of the original top-level domains created in 1984RFC 920, Domain Requirements, J. Postel, J. Reynolds, The Internet Society (October 1984) (the other five being {{mono|com}}, {{mono|org}}, {{mono|edu}}, {{mono|mil}}, and {{mono|arpa}}). The first site registered was {{mono|css.gov}} in June 1985.{{cite IETF |title=Hobbes' Internet Timeline |rfc=2235 |fyi=32 |last1=Zakon |first1=R. |authorlink1=Paul Hoffman (VPNC) |date=November 1997 |publisher=Network Working Group |doi=10.17487/RFC2235}}

Beginning in 1997, the General Services Administration (GSA) began administering .gov. In February 2011, the GSA selected Verisign to manage the registry services, replacing Native Technologies, Inc.{{cite news |last1=Lipowicz |first1=Alice |title=GSA selects VeriSign to manage .gov domain name registry |url=https://gcn.com/cloud-infrastructure/2011/02/gsa-selects-verisign-to-manage-gov-domain-name-registry/283030/ |access-date=16 January 2023 |work=GCN |date=3 February 2011}}

Responsibility for the TLD was transferred to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) under the DOTGOV Online Trust in Government Act of 2020,{{cite web |title=DOTGOV Act of 2020 |url=https://uscode.house.gov/statviewer.htm?volume=134&page=2297 |date=December 27, 2020 |access-date=20 June 2021}} part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021.

In January 2023, CISA selected Cloudflare to replace Verisign in providing registry services. Cloudflare will also provide authoritative DNS services for the .gov domain.{{cite news |last1=Murphy |first1=Kevin |title=Verisign loses prestige .gov contract to Cloudflare |url=https://domainincite.com/28517-verisign-loses-prestige-gov-contract-to-cloudflare |access-date=16 January 2023 |work=DomainIncite |date=16 January 2023}}

Many governments in the United States use a .gov domain, though most use .us (e.g., leg.state.nv.us), .com (e.g., myflorida.com), .org (e.g., lacity.org), or other TLDs (e.g., senate.mn).{{cite web |title=State legislature websites, compared |url=https://paulschreiber.com/blog/2021/04/04/state-legislature-websites-compared/ |last=Schreiber |first= Paul |date=April 4, 2021 |access-date=5 August 2021}} The full list of registered .gov domains is published at [https://get.gov/data get.gov/data].{{cite web |url=https://get.gov/data/ |title=.gov data |publisher= get.gov |access-date=5 February 2023}}

During GSA's administration of .gov, registration and annual renewal fees peaked at $400 per year.{{cite web |url=https://www.dotgov.gov/portal/c/document_library/get_file?p_l_id=132757&folderId=136944&name=DLFE-23312.pdf |title=Gov Domain Fee Increase FAQs |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201205114/https://www.dotgov.gov/portal/c/document_library/get_file?p_l_id=132757&folderId=136944&name=DLFE-23312.pdf |publisher=General Services Administration |access-date=5 August 2021 |archive-date=December 1, 2016}} When CISA began managing the TLD in April 2021, all fees were removed.{{cite web |url=https://get.gov/posts/2021-04-27-a-new-day-for-.gov/ |title=A new day for .gov |publisher=get.gov |date= 27 April 2021 |access-date=3 September 2024}}

Federal Executive branch policy requires the use of .gov for civilian agencies,{{cite web |url=https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/omb/memoranda/2017/m-17-06.pdf#page=11 |at=§9, "Use Only Approved Domains" |title=Memorandum 17-06: Policies for Federal Agency Public Websites and Digital Services |publisher=Office of Management and Budget |access-date=5 August 2021 |archive-date=October 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211011071723/https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/omb/memoranda/2017/m-17-06.pdf#page=11 |url-status=dead }} but some U.S. government-related websites use non-.gov domain names, including the United States Postal Service (e.g., usps.com) and various recruiting websites for armed services (e.g., goarmy.com). The United States Department of Defense and its subsidiary organizations typically use the .mil sTLD instead of .gov.

U.S.-based government organizations and publicly controlled entities are eligible to obtain a .gov domain. This includes federal, state, local, or territorial government, as well as any tribal government recognized by the federal government or a state government.{{cite web |url=https://get.gov/registration/requirements/#eligibility |title=Eligibility, .gov domain requirements |publisher=get.gov |access-date=5 February 2023}}

To register a .gov domain, an authorization letter must be submitted to CISA. The signer of the letter differs by entity type, but it is typically an agency's head, chief information officer (CIO), or highest-ranking or elected official.

Historically, only U.S. federal government agencies were allowed to register a .gov domain. In May 2002, GSA proposed a change that would open registration to state, local, and tribal governments in the U.S.,{{cite web |url=https://www.gsa.gov/about-us/newsroom/news-releases/gsa-proposes-rule-to-make-dotgov-domain-available-to-nonfederal-government-entities |title=GSA Proposes Rule to Make Dot-Gov Domain Available to Non-Federal Government Entities

|publisher=General Services Administration |access-date=2 October 2021}} a change that went into effect in March 2003.{{cite web |url=https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2003/03/28/03-7413/federal-management-regulation-internet-gov-domain|title=Federal Management Regulation; Internet GOV Domain |date=March 28, 2003 |publisher=Federal Register |access-date=19 September 2021}}

In November 2019, before the transfer of .gov to CISA, GSA's authorization process was shown to be weak after someone impersonated the mayor of Exeter, Rhode Island in an authorization letter and successfully gained control of exeterri.gov. In response, GSA said it had implemented additional fraud prevention controls, and CISA advocated for transferring the TLD from GSA.{{cite web|url=https://krebsonsecurity.com/2019/11/its-way-too-easy-to-get-a-gov-domain-name/|title=It's way too easy to get a .gov domain name|access-date=5 August 2021|last=Krebs |first=Brian |publisher=KrebsOnSecurity.com}}

The DOTGOV Act requires that CISA maintain requirements that "minimize the risk of .gov internet domains whose names could mislead or confuse users".{{cite web|url=https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=(title:6%20section:665%20edition:prelim)|title=6 USC 665|access-date=5 August 2021}} These include:

• Requested names must correspond with the requesting entity's organization's name or services.
• Generic terms are reserved for federal agencies, though generic words can be combined with state or local municipality names.
• Most non-federal domain types require a two-letter United States postal abbreviations or state name equivalent, though exceptions are made. Rules have been established for municipalities whose names are unique, who are well-known, or that are among the most populous cities and counties in the nation.{{cite web |url=https://get.gov/registration/requirements/ |title=.gov domain requirements |publisher=get.gov |access-date=5 February 2023}}

The Act also requires that .gov domains not be used for political campaign or commercial purposes, and that domains are registered only by authorized individuals.

.gov has been used to serve certain policy goals. As an action following Executive Order 13571,{{cite web|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2011/04/27/executive-order-13571-streamlining-service-delivery-and-improving-custom |title=Executive Order 13571 |date=April 27, 2011 |access-date=5 August 2021}} President Barack Obama restricted executive branch agencies from registering new .gov domains in an attempt to eliminate unnecessary, redundant, or outdated sites.{{cite web |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2011/06/13/toomanywebsitesgov |title=TooManyWebsites.gov |last=Phillips |first=Macon |date=13 June 2011 |access-date=5 August 2021}} US government agencies used the .gov registrar to make it easy for new registrants to opt-in to HTTPS preloading {{cite web |url=https://digital.gov/2018/10/29/gsa-steps-up-security-for-dotgov/ |title=GSA steps up security for .gov |date=29 October 2018 |access-date=5 August 2021 |last1=Dixon |first1=Cameron |last2=Fox |first2=Marina |publisher=Digital.gov}} and to make it easier for the public to report potential security issues.{{cite web|url=https://cyber.dhs.gov/bod/20-01/#enable-receipt-of-unsolicited-reports|title=Binding Operational Directive 20-01|publisher=Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency |date= 2 September 2020 |access-date=5 August 2021}}

{{As of|2014|2}}, all states, the District of Columbia, and all territories except for the Northern Mariana Islands have operational domains in gov:

While the use of gov as a top-level domain is restricted to the United States, several other countries have second-level domains of the same name or similar semantics for governmental purposes, including the following. Note that the governments of some jurisdictions use alternate domains in public communications (for example, the Government of Canada adopted canada.ca as its main public-facing URL in the 2010s, and some Canadian provinces have made similar changes).

• usa.gov
• .us

{{Reflist}}

• [https://get.gov Official .gov registration site]
• [https://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/gov.html IANA gov whois information]
• {{IETF RFC|920}} Domain Requirements (defined .com and the other original top-level domains)
• {{IETF RFC|2146}} U.S. Government Internet Domain Names
• [https://get.gov/data Complete list of .gov domains]

{{United States top-level domains}}

{{GTLD}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gov}}

Category:Sponsored top-level domains

Category:Domain names in the United States

Category:General Services Administration

Category:Internet properties established in 1985