Is SI.EDU a US Government domain? about dotgov-data HOT 6 CLOSED

Fair questions – I'm going to take @hodgesmr diversion (cool bot BTW) before addressing @pburkholder's (back soon, Peter).

CISA manages the registry for the .gov TLD and also the fed.us public suffix. Our registry operator, Verisign, runs authoritative DNS for both:

$ dig +short ns fed.us
a.gov-servers.net.
c.gov-servers.net.
b.gov-servers.net.
d.gov-servers.net.

$ dig +short ns gov
d.gov-servers.net.
b.gov-servers.net.
a.gov-servers.net.
c.gov-servers.net.

That's why our data includes the fed.us "TLD" and the few registered "second-level domains" that exist – it's the same back- and front-end infrastructure.

We anticipate retiring fed.us as a registerable namespace later this year, at which point there will be no more fed.us data here.

from dotgov-data.

from dotgov-data.

I don't want to take this issue too off topic, but is there also an explanation for why FED.US domains are included in this data set at all? Both the About and the README suggest this repository is specifically for domains in the .gov zone. I guess the answer to that may dictate @pburkholder's request?

from dotgov-data.

A couple thoughts:

• current-{full,federal} will only ever include .gov (...and some fed.us) data, so we won't add si.edu there.
• Given https://www.si.edu/ogc/legalhistory, we have some questions as to whether Smithsonian is an "agency" under the DOTGOV Act, which we'll dig into more. (I'll note that SI registered itis.gov before the DOTGOV Act's passage.) So for now, it's at best premature for si.edu to be added to our non-.gov files.

from dotgov-data.

More research on SI from @bengerman13:

Smithsonian says these things, which seem relevant:

Is The Smithsonian Part of the Government?
The Smithsonian is a Trust Instrumentality of the United States
What are Trust Positions?
[...] Trust employees are not part of the civil service, nor does trust fund employment lead to Federal status.

maybe this says otherwise? https://www.justice.gov/file/24096/download

we conclude that the unique nature of the Smithsonian counsels in favor of determining the status of the Smithsonian on a statute-by-statute basis. In this instance, we adhere to our prior opinion that the Smithsonian is not covered by the FACA, and we conclude that the Smithsonian is an “executive agency” within the meaning of the Property Act

but also:

The Smithsonian perceives itself as “not a government agency in any ordinary use of the term, but [as] a charitable trust for the benefit of humankind whose trustee is the United States. As such, it cannot carry out the functions of any of the three branches of government, but must be devoted exclusively to its educational and scientific purposes ‘for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men."

from dotgov-data.

Thanks for commenting again.

We've chatted with SI and CISA folk, and it's clear that the right call for Smithsonian is to treat them on a statute-by-statute basis. Federal laws use the words "federal agency" to mean different (and sometimes conflicting) things. SI is not an "agency" under the definition of the DOTGOV Act (6 USC 663(a)), but are a "Federal... government entity, or other publicly controlled entity".

(Here's a useful CRS report on SI.)

So, I believe si.edu would qualify as a US government domain, though not one to add to current-{full, federal}.csv.

(Edit: keyboard shortcut fail)

from dotgov-data.