On 14 November 2014, the Government of Mauritius announced that it will be migrating its Government Portal to www.govmu.org as from 1 December 2014.
On 20 December 2014, it was mentioned that it is not possible to ensure that every web site in the world linking to www.gov.mu updates its links. Two months after the migration, external web sites were visited to determine whether the references to the "gov.mu" domain name have been changed.
The core mission of the National Computer Board is "now to accelerate the transition of Mauritius into a regional ICT hub and ensure the swift realization of government's objective to make of the ICT sector a key pillar of the economy". The National Computer Board web site references the "gov.mu" domain name.
The email address for the Government Online Centre has "goc.gov.mu" as the domain name.
The Mauritius Chamber of Commerce and Industry displays "commerce.gov.mu" as the domain name for a government ministry. The Board of Investment (Mauritius) references a "gov.mu" domain name for a government web site and a "govmu.org" domain name for email. The Beachcomber Hotels and Sun Resorts reference "gov.mu" domain names.
Lonely Planet references "pmo.gov.mu" as the web site which tourists can visit to find information about visas for Mauritius. HSBC Holdings plc references "www.gov.mu" as the web site for the Republic of Mauritius. The South African Development Community publishes a "mail.gov.mu" domain name as part of the email address for the SADC National Contact Point. The International Association of Assay Offices references "www.gov.mu" as the domain name for the Assay Office in Mauritius and "mail.gov.mu" as part of the email address. The French Ministry of Foreign affairs references a "gov.mu" domain name. The Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK references a "gov.mu" domain name. A "Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union" references a "gov.mu" domain name and a "govmu.org" domain name.
According to a newspaper in Mauritius thousands of Mauritians have been receiving emails asking them to change their password on the on the Government Portal. The newspaper did not respond to a request about the source of the information. The mail servers for the "govmu.org" domain name identify themselves as "220 mxmail.gov.mu ESMTP **" and "220 mxmail1.gov.mu ESMTP Symantec Messaging Gateway". The deployment of DKIM for the "govmu.org" domain name was incorrect.
The name servers for the govmu.org domain name are "pdns05.domaincontrol.com" and "pdns05.domaincontrol.com". The name servers are operated by Go Daddy Operating Company, LLC. The company stated that its "agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the federal law of the United States and the state law of Arizona, whichever is applicable, without regard to conflict of laws principles".
A country aspiring to become a "regional ICT hub" would be able to operate nameservers within its jurisdiction. The mail servers for "govmu.org" are hosted under the "gov.mu" domain name. Several web sites in Mauritius and outside Mauritius reference "gov.mu" as the domain name for the Government Portal and publish "mail.gov.mu" as email contact points. The plan to migrate from the "gov.mu" domain name to the "govmu.org" domain name was not successful.
1. National Computer Board, "Vision and Mission", 13 February 2015
2. www.lexpress.mu, "Piraterie informatique: le nouveau site du gouvernement utilisé pour une arnaque", 6 February 2015
3. "GoDaddy.com, LLC", "Go Daddy Universal Terms of Service Agreement"