Maine State Government
Dept. of Administrative & Financial
Services
Office of Information Technology
Standard for the Use of Domain
Names
I. Statement
State agencies will understand how to apply for approved web
domain names.
II. Purpose and
Principles
A.
The purpose of this standard is to govern the
acquisition and use of State agency web domain names.
B.
The State of Maine
establishes these principles in order to promote effective services associated
with the State of Maine Domain Name
Policy.
1.
Sovereignty – The State of Maine
will establish its identity as the sovereign State of Maine by complying with the national domain
name program.
2.
Integrity and
Authenticity – The State of Maine will establish the sole, official,
internationally-recognized domain name of the State of Maine and thereby
authenticate to its citizens and customers that they are conducting business
with the legitimate State site.
a.
Name formulation standards in all namespaces will be
rigorously adhered to.
b.
Names assigned to one entity may not be requested by or
granted to another.
3. Protection – The State of Maine will protect its dotgov domain name
and subordinate domain names by complying with the national domain name
program, ensuring that Maine.gov domain names cannot be misappropriated by
others.
4. One Government – To the maximum extent
possible, the State of Maine
will provide access to State services and information through a single domain
name, making it easy for citizens and customers to find and use the official
site to reach all services. Services
thus coordinated through a predictable method are of higher value to
citizens. Service provisioning through
multiple government domain names, based on agency or program or other
orientations, are often confusing to citizens and are discouraged.
a.
Branding – In support
of the One Government principle, the State of Maine will establish Maine.gov as the single
domain name through which services and information can be reached. Establishing Maine.gov as a readily
identifiable brand with a common look and feel helps ensure name recognition,
simplifies marketing, and provides easy access to and consistent navigation of
services. Supporting Maine.gov as the
prime brand of Maine State Government avoids confusion on behalf of our
citizens by focusing on a single point of predictable, reliable access. Secondary brands are strongly discouraged. New
names must be approved and in-hand well in advance of public marketing efforts.
5. Privacy and Security – The State recognizes
and values the privacy and security of its citizens’ information. By providing services through the official
domain that uses common policies and standards the State will assure citizens
that their personal information is handled according to law. The State will also assure that monetary
transactions conducted between the State and customers are securely handled.
6.
Cost Effectiveness –
The State of Maine
will reduce costs and increase effectiveness by providing standardized services
and approaches where possible.
III. Applicability
A.
This standard is intended to manage the acquisition and
use of all domain names by
1.
Executive Branch and semi-autonomous State agencies
irrespective of where their sites are hosted and
2.
Agencies from other Maine
State government branches
that are hosted on computer devices operated by the Office of Information
Technology or that traverse the State’s wide area network.
3.
Counties and Municipalities of the State of Maine seeking domain names in the Maine.gov
namespace.
This standard permits and encourages cooperation with the other
branches of Maine
government in the coordination of domain name services. This cooperation includes municipalities and
counties who elect to participate.
IV. Responsibilities
A.
The Chief Information Officer (CIO) is responsible for
approving domain names, ruling on waiver requests to authorize the use of
alternative domain names, and overseeing the Enterprise Domain Name Registry.
1.
Enterprise
Domain Name Registry: The registry will be executed jointly by InforME and, on
behalf of the CIO, the OIT Office of Networking Services unit with the former
acting as primary technical agent for commercially acquired domain names (also
referred to as alternative domain names) and the latter as primary technical agent
for those in the dotgov name spaces.
B.
All State agencies will apply for a Maine.gov domain
name via the Enterprise Domain Name Registry portal (see Procedure for
Agencies requesting Domain Names and Waivers for the State of Maine Domain Name Policy). If an agency desires an alternative domain
name to Maine.gov (and Me.gov), they must make the request as directed in that
procedure.
C.
Counties and Municipalities of the State of Maine
will apply for Maine.gov domain names through
a written request to the CIO. (See Procedure
for State of Maine Counties and Municipalities requesting Maine.gov domain
names.)
D.
The Maine Legislative and Judicial Branches: Because the federal dotgov guidelines
indicate state courts and legislatures follow their state’s internet policy and
the dotgov Domain Registration Federal Policy, these branches shall apply for
Maine.gov domain names via the Enterprise Domain Name Registry.
E.
Costs: All
external costs, such as registration and renewal fees for GSA will be borne by
the subscribing party. The fees for commercially acquired domain
names will be borne by OIT. There is no
initial or recurring internal cost associated with the registration and
maintenance of domain names in the Maine.gov namespace. The Chief Information Officer (CIO) reserves
the right to impose applicable processing and or maintenance fees to recover
the cost associated with the management of all domain name assets.
V. Naming Standards
and Conventions
A.
Executive Branch Agencies: The State of Maine subscribes to second level
domain names (Maine.gov and Me.gov) for the general internet
addressing services for State agencies.
To maximize addressability, a corresponding domain name should be
defined in the Me.gov namespace whenever a Maine.gov domain name is approved
and defined and vice versa. Agencies
should use Agencyname.Maine.Gov. For
example, if dot.maine.gov is defined then corresponding dot.me.gov should also
be defined.
1.
Agencies shall align their domain names in support of the
primary domain designation, which takes two forms as follows
a.
Path Level – would typically be one of two forms: www.maine.gov/dept/sitename
or www.maine.gov/appname. Both of
these forms support the Maine.gov band and enjoy the protection and advantages
of the official, trusted State of Maine
government web presence.
b.
Third Level or Higher – Occasionally for technical reasons a
server must be assigned a unique host name.
In these cases, the naming convention shall be myserver.agencyname.maine.gov.
2.
Alternative Domain Names:
Alternatives to the primary domain designation policy may be permitted
when there are compelling business or public policy reasons to do so. Alternative domain names whose end-of-life
has been determined should plan for that event.
Users of
alternative domain names need to be mindful that Maine.gov is the primary brand
for electronic interaction with the State of Maine and it is primarily through this brand
that constituents can be assured that the information and services that they
obtain are from approved Maine State Government sources.
(i)
It has been a practice for some State agencies to acquire
alternative domain names outside of the Maine.gov name space. The two major purposes for these have been:
·
The perception that non-State branding or
‘handles’ will improve user acceptance of State services.
·
Alternative branding around which agencies
promote programs and services.
Experience has shown that citizen use of alternative
domain names has proven contrary to expectations, namely that citizens
more routinely use Maine.gov to find information and services, even to find
alternative domain names. Consequently,
experience typically shows that using the Maine.gov brand will achieve better
results.
There are also significant risks in the
use of alternative domain names, including domain hijacking, like domains that
may link to inappropriate content, etc.
Because they are leased rather than purchased they are ill-suited for
long-term marketing use. Therefore, the
following best-practices are required.
·
Registrations and renewals of all non-dotgov
domain names will be performed by the Enterprise Domain Name Registry to
leverage expertise in that realm.
·
Leases should be acquired for a minimum of three
years.
·
Once acquire domain name leases should be
‘locked’.
(ii)
Agencies are responsible for costs associated with acquiring
and administering alternative domain names.
(iii)
If an external domain name is approved, agencies are
encouraged to redirect or have an alias to a Maine.gov-derived namespace.
The remaining term for subscriptions to external domain names should at
no time fall to less than 1 year unless the planned domain end of life will
fall within that year.
(iv)
Existing applications named in the www.state.me.us
namespace and domain names derived from the state.me.us names space will be retired
in an orderly fashion and moved to conforming namespaces.
(v)
Non-conforming domain names, not included in (iv) above, will
be transferred to a single registrar account administered by InforME (InforME –
Electronic Access to Public Information Act. Title 1, Maine Revised Statutes,
chapter 713, section 1). InforME will
pass domain name registration fees back to the state through OIT.
B.
Non - Maine.gov or Me.gov Second-level Domain Names: While the federal dotgov guidelines permit
the state CIO to register second-level dotgov domains, the State will
discourage second-level domain names.
1.
Those requesting second-level domain names shall need to
provide a compelling justification in order to satisfy an extraordinary,
non-conforming need. In cases where a
second-level dotgov domain is approved, the web site associated with the domain
remains subject to the standards and policies of Maine State Government. Approval will be only for a fixed period of
time, at the end of which the domain name will be expired, barring a successful
request for continuation.
2.
Those with existing second-level domain names are not
grandfathered indefinitely. Since such
second-level names are essentially non-conforming, they may create confusion or
wasted browsing for citizens seeking information or services. Those with such second-level domain names
will be encouraged – and in some cases required – to develop and implement a migration
to a predictable, conforming Maine.gov name.
C.
Instrumentalities of the State: States are authorized to develop policy on
how non-state governments shall be registered under the state domain name.
1.
The (third level) naming convention to be used by
participating municipalities shall be municipalname.maine.gov. ‘Municipalname’ may include the word “city”
or “town” at the discretion of the local government.
2.
The naming convention for participating counties shall be countyname.Maine.gov
where “countyname” must include the word ‘county’ to distinguish its form of
government (e.g., Aroostookcounty.Maine.gov or
CountyofAroostook.Maine.gov).
VI. Guidelines
A.
All entities using a dotgov domain must comply with the
federal guidelines (the full federal policy can be accessed at http://www.dotgov.gov.), including:
1.
Advertisements:
A Maine.gov domain may not be used to advertise for private individuals, firms,
or corporations, or imply in any manner that the government endorses or favors
any specific commercial product, commodity, or service.
2.
Campaign Information:
No campaigning can be done with dotgov domains. The Maine.gov Web sites may not
be directly linked to or refer to Web sites created or operated by a campaign
or any campaign entity or committee. Separate Web sites and e-mail on other
top-level domains (TLDs), such as .org, will have to be used to disseminate
campaign information.
3.
Link Change
Notification: When a link on a Maine.gov domain makes the user
leave a Maine.gov web site, a notification or screen (i.e., a splash message)
should alert users that they are leaving the official dotgov page.
4.
Domain Termination: An organization that operates Maine.gov web
sites that are not in compliance with the Maine.gov conditions of use may have
its domain name terminated.
B.
Domain Name Suitability Guidelines: Names requested in the dotgov namespace must
adhere to and will be tested against the
following criteria:
1. Need: Does the requested domain name provide utility and/or branding to
the target initiative or organization?
2. Time: Domain names in the Maine.gov namespace are intended to serve
long-term roles. They are generally not
appropriate vehicles for temporary or short term projects or events. In very rare cases, to serve a significant
need, they may be assigned to serve short-term interests.
3.
Applicability: Domain names that pose a strong potential
for conflict with other state, municipal, county or other interests should be
avoided.
4. Impact: Maine.gov is intended as a positive locale for people to avail
themselves of the governmental information and services in the State of Maine. Names that detract from the brand’s appeal
are to be avoided.
C.
Domain
Name Formulation Guidelines:
Naming standards avoid confusion on the part of the public and will
improve ease of use and recognition of government brands. Under the
direction of the CIO, the Enterprise Domain Name Registry will review and grant
domain name requests according to the following naming conventions:
1.
No blank spaces may used in the domain name.
2.
A domain name can only have letters, numbers and dashes ( - ).
3.
A domain name cannot start or end with a dash.
4.
Dotgov domain name requests will always end with Maine.gov at
the second and first levels.
5.
A domain name will be as short as reasonably possible.
6.
A domain name will be easily understood by the citizens and
visitors of Maine.
7.
A domain name will avoid the use of acronyms as much as
possible.
8.
A domain name will be based on the most generally accepted
meaning of the specific words that make up the requested name. For example, a
request for “roads.maine.gov” by the Rural Outdoor Assistive Dog Service would
be refused, because the name “roads” is generally perceived to be related to
vehicular transportation.
D.
Municipalities and counties may register only one
domain name. To register any third-level
domain within maine.gov, the following guidelines apply:
1.
Programs and initiatives such as fire department, police
department, library, etc. should be represented by extending the domain
name. For example: city (town or county)
name.maine.gov\firedepartment.
2.
Do not use spaces and underscores within a domain name. Dashes
are fine, but may not be used at the beginning or end of a domain name.
3.
Additionally for municipalities: The domain name must include
the city (town) name. Do not abbreviate the city name.
4.
Additionally for counties: The domain must be registered with
the county's name and with the word "county" (because many counties
have the same name as cities within the same state). Please do not abbreviate
the county name; the word "county" must be spelled out in full.
E.
Waivers and Appeals:
See Procedure to Request a State of Maine Web Domain Name document
VII. Definitions
1. State
of Maine
Domain Name Policy
VIII. References
A.
Domain Names at the State of Maine – Published in February
2006, this is an OIT in-house white paper containing research about the
acquisition and use of domain names at the State of Maine as well as a series
of recommendations leading to the formulation of this policy.
B.
The General Services Administration’s Final Rule (41
CFR Part 1020173) was issued in March 2003, establishing a basis to permit
dotgov domain services for state and local governments (https://www.dotgov.gov/final_rule_102.aspx). This rule also established conforming name
protocols for URLs in the Gov domain.
Within this rule states are encouraged to make second-level domains
available for third-level registration by local governments.
IX. Document
Information
1. Document Reference
Number: 15
2. Category: Internet
3. Adoption Date:
10/24/07
4. Effective Date:
10/24/07
5. Review Date: 10/24/09
6. Point of Contact: Paul
Sandlin, Office of Information Technology, State House Station #138, Augusta, ME
04333, Telephone: (207)
624-9427
7. Approved By: Greg McNeal, Chief Technology Officer, OIT
8. Position Title(s)
or Agency Responsible for Enforcement: n/a
9. Legal Citation: None
10. Waiver Process: Waiver
requests must be submitted in writing to the Associate Chief Information
Officer.
