Want .gov? That'll be $125

August 2004

State and local governments must now pay before taking advantage of a year-old General Services Administration decision to loosen the federal government's exclusive hold on the .gov domain name.

As of July 31, all agencies registering or renewing a .gov Web site must pay $125 annually. Federal agencies have always paid GSA for URLs, but a 16-month fee-free period for states and cities has ended.

Federal rules that allow GSA officials to assess the fee set the upward limit at $1,000 for registration and $500 for renewal. "One hundred and twenty-five dollars to support the overall registration process is actually very reasonable," said Keith Thurston, assistant deputy associate administrator of GSA's Office of Electronic Government and Technology.