VeriSign to administer .gov domain names

International Web address registrar VeriSign has been entrusted by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) with the running of the .gov top level domain name.

The GSA’s decision to allow VeriSign to provide registration services to federal institutions follows on from a competitive request for proposal bid and in-depth evaluation process.

VeriSign will also be responsible for the administration of the .fed.us top level domain name.

Mark McLaughlin, president and chief executive officer of VeriSign, said, “[The firm] is honored to be granted the responsibility of operating the .gov and fed.us domain name registries.”

“Our unmatched operational excellence and proven security expertise offers the GSA a trusted and experienced partner, poised to protect its infrastructure against threats now and into the future,” Mr McLaughlin added.

He concluded that VeriSign would offer the GSA value-added services that would meet the government’s ever-changing IT demands.

Recently, VeriSign released figures which show that .com and .net renewals are actually increasing.