.mu
 | |
| Introduced | 1995 |
|---|---|
| TLD type | Country code top-level domain |
| Status | Active |
| Registry | MUNIC |
| Sponsor | Internet Direct Ltd. |
| Intended use | Entities connected with  Mauritius |
| Actual use | Used by various sites, many (but not all) having something to do with Mauritius. (Ex.: used for MUsic and MUseum sites) |
| Registration restrictions | None |
| Structure | Can 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.
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 http://www.espace.mu.[1]
In 2009, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Yann Kwok, owner of Internet Direct, and the Government of Mauritius. Internet Direct Limited had agreed to co-operate with the Government of Mauritius. In 2012, the agreement was not renewed by the Ministry of IT. In July 2013, Mr Yann Kwok stated that Internet Direct Limited would no longer offer its services to the Government of Mauritius because the latter has not paid for the domain name registrations and renewals. The National Computer Board of Mauritius refused to pay because they claim that this domain belongs to the Government and should thus be free. http://business.mega.mu/2013/07/29/internet-210-government-websites-threatened/.[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, an international consultant informed ICTA that their proposal was clumsy and they do not have a case for re-delegation, because their proposed model is inappropriate and will need work 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 to 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. As of 4 November 2014, the www.gov.mu portal, as well as the other domains under gov.mu appear to be online and working again. Both the Ministry of IT and Internet Direct Ltd have declined to provide any comments about the matter, since the case is still being disputed in court.
On 14 November 2014, the Government of Mauritius announced that it will no longer be hosting its website on gov.mu,[6] as the financial demands of Mr Yann Kwok were deemed prohibitive [7]
As of June 2013, The registration agreement published by Internet Direct Limited that it was exclusively government by the laws of Mauritius. The current registration agreement states that the conditions are governed by English law, and this is deemed too expensive for people residing in Mauritius. [8]
As of 1st December 2014, The former domain of the government websites gov.mu went on sale to the highest bidder, even if the expiry date was 2025. This caused public outcry in Mauritius, and damaged the reputation of the country as an ICT Hub [9] [10].
Second-level domains
- .com.mu - Commercial entities
- .net.mu - Network entities
- .org.mu - Non-profit organisations
- .gov.mu - Government organisations
- .ac.mu - Academic institutions
- .co.mu - Commercial entities (No longer available for new registration by most registrars)
- .or.mu - Non-profit organisations (No longer available for new registration by most registrars)
References
- ^ "Le portail des webradios musicales de Radio-Canada". Espace.mu. Retrieved 2012-02-01.
- ^ "Internet: 210 Government Websites Threatened". mega.mu. Retrieved 2014-11-04.
- ^ "Gov.mu Is Down In The World – Emails Being Wrongly Routed". Island Crisis News. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
- ^ "www.gov.mu inaccessible". S. Moonesamy. Retrieved 2014-11-15.
- ^ "Le site gov.mu pas accessible aux étrangers". lexpress.mu. Retrieved 2014-11-04.
- ^ "gov.mu domain name migration". S. Moonesamy. Retrieved 2014-11-15.
- ^ "la guerre des prix". Le Mauricien. Retrieved 2014-11-16.
- ^ ".mu ccTLD jurisdiction". S. Moonesamy. Retrieved 2014-11-24.
- ^ "gov.mu for sale". S. Moonesamy. Retrieved 2014-12-01.
- ^ "nom de domaine gov.mu en vente". l'express. Retrieved 2014-12-01.