Add gouv.cd to Public Suffix List (DRC government domains managed by nic.cd)

[CedricMamana]

Add gouv.cd to Public Suffix List (DRC government domains managed by nic.cd)

Rationale

.gouv.cd (French: "gouvernement") is an official second-level domain directly managed by the .cd registry operator (NIC.CD/SCPT) for Democratic Republic of Congo government organizations. This second-level domain serves as a public registration point where different government departments and agencies independently register their domains.

While gov.cd (English variant) is already in the PSL, gouv.cd is missing, preventing legitimate government websites from using standard DNS services like Cloudflare.

Proposed Change

In public_suffix_list.dat, update the .cd section from:

// cd : https://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/cd.html
// https://www.nic.cd
cd
gov.cd

To:

// cd : https://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/cd.html
// https://www.nic.cd
cd
gov.cd
gouv.cd

Registry-Level Management

.gouv.cd is NOT a private/third-party domain - it is an official second-level domain operated by the .cd registry:

• Registry Operator: SCPT (Société Congolaise des Postes et Télécommunications)
• Official Registry: http://www.nic.cd
• Domain Structure: .gouv.cd is managed directly under nic.cd as part of the official .cd namespace structure
• IANA Reference: https://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/cd.html
• Registry Contact: maurice.mufusi@scpt.cd (per IANA delegation data)

Real-World Use Cases

Multiple DRC government ministries and agencies are actively using .gouv.cd domains. These cannot use Cloudflare DNS due to the missing PSL entry:

• numerique.gouv.cd - Ministère des Affaires Numériques (Ministry of Digital Affairs)

  • https://numerique.gouv.cd/

• ptntic.gouv.cd - Ministère des Postes, Télécommunications et Nouvelles Technologies de l'Information et de la Communication (Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, ICT)

  • https://ptntic.gouv.cd/

• arptc.gouv.cd - Autorité de Régulation de la Poste et des Télécommunications du Congo (Regulatory Authority of Post and Telecommunications)

  • https://arptc.gouv.cd/

• anicns.gouv.cd - Agence Nationale d'Identification de la Population (National Population Identification Agency)

• sante.gouv.cd - Ministère de la Santé Publique, Hygiène et Prévention (Ministry of Health)

These active government websites demonstrate that .gouv.cd is a functioning public suffix where multiple independent government entities register their domains under the NIC.CD registry management.

Evidence from Accredited .cd Registrars

All accredited .cd registrars recognize .gouv.cd as an official registry second-level domain:

1. BB-Online (Accredited Registrar)

• Source: https://www.bb-online.com/tldinformation/cd.shtml
• Lists .gouv.cd as official second-level domain managed by NIC Congo
• Registry operator confirmed: "NIC Congo - Interpoint Switzerland (sponsor)"
• Restriction: "Registration restricted to official Democratic Republic of Congo government organisations"

2. Nominate.com (Accredited Registrar)

• Source: https://www.nominate.com/gouv.cd.shtml
• Offers .gouv.cd registration through NIC.CD
• States: ".cd is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for the Democratic Republic of the Congo"
• Restriction: Government organizations only

3. Africa Registry (Accredited Registrar)

• Source: https://www.africaregistry.com/domain-names/the-democratic-republic-congo/cd-domain-registration
• Confirms NIC Congo as registry operator
• Lists .gouv.cd as part of official .cd registry structure

Why Both gov.cd and gouv.cd

The Democratic Republic of Congo is a Francophone country where French is the official language. The NIC.CD registry operates both:

• .gov.cd (English variant - already in PSL)
• .gouv.cd (French variant - actively used by government ministries and agencies)

Both are registry-managed second-level domains serving different government entities as independent registration boundaries. The active use of .gouv.cd by multiple ministries (Digital Affairs, Telecommunications, Health, etc.) and regulatory agencies demonstrates it is the primary government domain infrastructure.

Authentication

As this is a registry-level second-level domain (not a private domain), it falls under the ICANN/ccTLD section of the PSL. The domain is:

1. Operated by the official .cd registry (NIC.CD/SCPT)
2. Documented by all accredited registrars
3. Referenced on the official registry website structure
4. Managed alongside gov.cd (which is already in the PSL)
5. Actively used by multiple DRC government ministries and agencies (verified via live websites)

Unable to add _psl.gouv.cd DNS TXT record as I'm not a registry representative. However, this is:

• Documented across all public registry sources as an official registry-managed second-level domain
• Proven by multiple active government websites currently operating under .gouv.cd
• Consistent with standard francophone government domain practices

Precedent

Similar francophone government domains already in PSL:

• .gouv.fr (France)
• .gouv.ci (Côte d'Ivoire)
• Other francophone ccTLDs with both .gov.xx and .gouv.xx variants

Impact

Adding .gouv.cd ensures proper operation of critical DRC government services (including Digital Affairs, Telecommunications, Health, and regulatory authorities) with modern DNS services like Cloudflare, while maintaining proper security boundaries between different government agencies.

References

• Ministry of Digital Affairs: https://numerique.gouv.cd/
• Ministry of PTNTIC: https://ptntic.gouv.cd/
• ARPTC: https://arptc.gouv.cd/
• Nominate.com listing: https://www.nominate.com/gouv.cd.shtml
• IANA .cd delegation: https://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/cd.html

---

[simon-friedberger]

Since a change like this may break services it must be communicated appropriately, that is why we cannot make this change without a request from the domain owner or the registry.

If you want to help, you can get in touch with the registry and ask them to publish a list of SLDs which should be on the PSL.

Note, that the PSL currently only has .gov.cd and none of the following which are all listed on some of the linked registrars:
ac.cd
com.cd
edu.cd
gouv.cd
net.cd
org.cd

[dnsguru]

We will need the TXT records in DNS for verification to proceed with this @CedricMamana as @simon-friedberger suggests.

There are changes to cookie behaviours on the one hand but also other trickle-out impacts related to security, email or other considerations. Because you're suggesting a gummint string we look even more closely at these, given we have recently had some suspecious third-party submissions that were unaffiliated with the respective governing body or nic.