6 USC 665 - Duties and authorities relating to .gov internet domain

U.S Code last checked for updates: Nov 22, 2024

§ 665.

Duties and authorities relating to .gov internet domain

(a)

Definition

(b)

Availability of .gov internet domain

The Director shall make .gov internet domain name registration services, as well as any supporting services described in subsection (e), generally available—

(1)

to any Federal, State, local, or territorial government entity, or other publicly controlled entity, including any Tribal government recognized by the Federal Government or a State government, that complies with the requirements for registration developed by the Director as described in subsection (c);

(2)

without conditioning registration on the sharing of any information with the Director or any other Federal entity, other than the information required to meet the requirements described in subsection (c); and

(3)

without conditioning registration on participation in any separate service offered by the Director or any other Federal entity.

(c)

Requirements

The Director, with the approval of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget for agency .gov internet domain requirements and in consultation with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget for .gov internet domain requirements for entities that are not agencies, shall establish and publish on a publicly available website requirements for the registration and operation of .gov internet domains sufficient to—

(1)

minimize the risk of .gov internet domains whose names could mislead or confuse users;

(2)

establish that .gov internet domains may not be used for commercial or political campaign purposes;

(3)

ensure that domains are registered and maintained only by authorized individuals; and

(4)

limit the sharing or use of any information obtained through the administration of the .gov internet domain with any other Department component or any other agency for any purpose other than the administration of the .gov internet domain, the services described in subsection (e), and the requirements for establishing a .gov inventory described in subsection (h).

(d)

Executive branch

(1)

In general

(2)

Approval required

(3)

Compliance

(e)

Supporting services

(1)

In general

(2)

Rule of construction

Nothing in paragraph (1) shall be construed to—

(A)

limit other authorities of the Director to provide services or technical assistance to an entity described in subsection (b)(1); or

(B)

establish new authority for services other than those the purpose of which expressly supports the operation of .gov internet domains and the needs of .gov internet domain registrants.

(f)

Fees

(1)

In general

(2)

Limitation

(g)

Consultation

(h)

.gov inventory

(1)

In general

The Director shall, on a continuous basis—

(A)

inventory all hostnames and services in active use within the .gov internet domain; and

(B)

provide the data described in subparagraph (A) to domain registrants at no cost.

(2)

Requirements

In carrying out paragraph (1)—

(A)

data may be collected through analysis of public and non-public sources, including commercial data sets;

(B)

the Director shall share with Federal and non-Federal domain registrants all unique hostnames and services discovered within the zone of their registered domain;

(C)

the Director shall share any data or information collected or used in the management of the .gov internet domain name registration services relating to Federal executive branch registrants with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget for the purpose of fulfilling the duties of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget under section 3553 of title 44;

(D)

the Director shall publish on a publicly available website discovered hostnames that describe publicly accessible agency websites, to the extent consistent with the security of Federal information systems but with the presumption of disclosure;

(E)

the Director may publish on a publicly available website any analysis conducted and data collected relating to compliance with Federal mandates and industry best practices, to the extent consistent with the security of Federal information systems but with the presumption of disclosure; and

(F)

the Director shall—

(i)

collect information on the use of non-.gov internet domain suffixes by agencies for their official online services;

(ii)

collect information on the use of non-.gov internet domain suffixes by State, local, Tribal, and territorial governments; and

(iii)

publish the information collected under clause (i) on a publicly available website to the extent consistent with the security of the Federal information systems, but with the presumption of disclosure.

(3)

National security coordination

(A)

In general

(B)

Limitation

The Director may not inventory, collect, or publish hostnames or services under this subsection if the Director, in coordination with other heads of agencies, as appropriate, determines that the collection or publication would—

(i)

disrupt a law enforcement investigation;

(ii)

endanger national security or intelligence activities;

(iii)

impede national defense activities or military operations; or

(iv)

hamper security remediation actions.

(4)

Strategy

(Pub. L. 107–296, title XXII, § 2215, as added Pub. L. 116–260, div. U, title IX, § 904(b)(1)(B), Dec. 27, 2020, 134 Stat. 2298; Pub. L. 117–81, div. A, title XV, § 1547(b)(1)(A)(ii), (B), Dec. 27, 2021, 135 Stat. 2060, 2061; Pub. L. 117–263, div. G, title LXXI, § 7143(a)(1), Dec. 23, 2022, 136 Stat. 3654.)

cite as: 6 USC 665