.mu

Last updated
.mu
Dotmu.png
Introduced6 October 1995
TLD type Country code top-level domain
StatusActive
Registry MUNIC
Sponsor Internet Direct Ltd.
Intended useEntities connected with Flag of Mauritius.svg  Mauritius
Actual useUsed by various sites, many (but not all) having something to do with Mauritius; also used for MUsic and MUseum sites
Registration restrictionsNone
StructureCan register at second level or at third level beneath various second-level labels; there is some redundancy (both .com.mu and .co.mu exist)
Documents Policies
Registry website MUNIC

.mu is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Mauritius. It is administered by the Mauritius Network Information Centre and registrations are processed via accredited registrars. Some registrars market it as the .music and .museum TLD.

Contents

Usage

A number of musical groups have started to use this domain, with .mu being used to indicate music. Some examples are the rock band Athlete, the country band Lonestar, the British progressive rock bands Muse and Pendragon, the New Age musical project Amethystium and the 80s influenced hardcore metal band Blessed By A Broken Heart. In addition, the UK-based record label Planet Mu also uses the .mu domain, with the .mu forming the second half of the label's name. The world's largest direct seller of musical instruments, (Musician's Friend), also uses a .mu URL (frnd.mu) as a link shortener for several of their social media channels, including Twitter. The French webpage for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (Radio-Canada) uses the .mu domain for its Music network's web-only personalised music streams. [1]

Recent events

In 2009, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Internet Direct and the Government of Mauritius. In 2012, the agreement was not renewed by the Ministry of IT. In July 2013, Internet Direct Limited stated that they would no longer provide services to the Government of Mauritius unless the arrears for domain name registrations and renewals are settled. The National Computer Board of Mauritius refused to pay, claiming that it should be free because they are the Government. [2]

The Information and Communication Technologies Authority (ICTA Mauritius) published a consultation paper in September 2011 and April 2012, with a view to forcing a re-delegation. At the public consultation meeting held on 12 April 2012, the international consultant informed ICTA that their proposal was clumsy and the Government does not have a case for re-delegation, because their proposed model is inappropriate and no proposal will be possible without working together with the current sponsoring organization "Internet Direct Ltd".

In October 2014, the portal of the government of Mauritius was no longer accessible outside the Orange network. Orange is a subsidiary of Mauritius Telecom, the state-owned telecom operator. Various IT experts including staff of AfriNIC, Google and the local Linux Group found that the DNS servers set up by Orange contained incorrect entries, thereby hiding from the Mauritius public the true situation when in fact the services were already disconnected. [3] [4] The Ministry of Information and Communication Technology of Mauritius was not aware of the issue. [5] All the websites hosted on the gov.mu domain name were no longer accessible. It turned out that the Government, despite numerous extensions given to settle the renewal fees, still did not pay for the services and requested the Supreme Court to order Internet Direct Ltd to provide the service for free in perpetuity. Both the Ministry of IT and Internet Direct Ltd have declined to provide any comments about the matter, since the case was still being disputed in court.

In January 2015, the Government formally withdrew their case against Internet Direct Ltd and are in discussion for an amicable settlement for the amount owed by the Government. There has been several meetings since between the various advisers.

Second-level domains

Related Research Articles

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The domain com is a top-level domain (TLD) in the Domain Name System (DNS) of the Internet. Created in the first group of Internet domains at the beginning of 1985, its name is derived from the word commercial, indicating its original intended purpose for subdomains registered by commercial organizations. Later, the domain opened for general purposes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.eu</span> Internet country-code top level domain for the European Union

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">.ie</span> Internet country-code top level domain for the Republic of Ireland

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.qa is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for State of Qatar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.ky</span> Internet country code top-level domain for the Cayman Islands

.ky is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for the Cayman Islands. The code was chosen as other possible options had already been allocated. Registration was limited to residents and registered companies in the Cayman Islands with a local address, but this restriction was removed in September 2015. The Cayman Islands also has the international three-letter code CYM and has won a bid to be awarded the .cym domain in a future expansion of the top-level domain space.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">.na</span> Internet country code top-level domain for Namibia

.na is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Namibia corresponding to the two letter code from the ISO-3166 standard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.tj</span> Internet country code top-level domain for Tajikistan

.tj is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Tajikistan. Registrations are processed via accredited registrars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.au Domain Administration</span> Manager of the .au domain

.au Domain Administration (auDA) is the policy authority and industry self-regulatory body for the .au domain, which is the country-code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Australia. It was formed in 1999 to manage the .au ccTLD with the endorsement of the Australian Government and the authority of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). It is a not-for-profit membership organisation that promotes and protects the .au domain space.

References

  1. "Le portail des webradios musicales de Radio-Canada". Espace.mu. Retrieved 2012-02-01.
  2. "Internet: 210 Government Websites Threatened". mega.mu. Retrieved 2014-11-04.
  3. "Gov.mu Is Down In The World – Emails Being Wrongly Routed". Island Crisis News. Archived from the original on 2014-11-10. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  4. "www.gov.mu inaccessible". S. Moonesamy. Retrieved 2014-11-15.
  5. "Le site gov.mu pas accessible aux étrangers". lexpress.mu. 2014-11-03. Retrieved 2014-11-04.