RFC 2146 (rfc2146) - Page 1 of 12
U
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
Network Working Group Federal Networking Council
Request For Comments: 2146 May 1997
Category: Informational
Obsoletes: 1816
U.S. Government Internet Domain Names
Status 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 to RFC 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