ALL .za domains have to link to government coronavirus web site
Kevin Murphy, March 30, 2020, 09:36:00 (UTC), Domain Policy
The South African government has decreed that every web site using a .za domain name must now carry a link to an official government coronavirus advice site.
The regulation (pdf), which largely focuses on other types of teleconmmunications services, came into effect last Thursday. It states:
Internet sites operating within .zaDNA top level domain name must have a landing page with a visible link to www.sacoronavirus.co.za
The rule applies to every site, not just those purveying health news.
ZADNA's front page currently features this clickable graphic, slightly below the fold.
ZADNA is the registry for .za, but also the city gTLDs .joburg and .capetown. The wording of the regulation suggests that these two gTLDs are also covered by the rule, but official government communications make no mention of either.
The rules also require fake coronavirus news to be blocked, but that's on the ISPs to implement.
You may notice that the government's domain is SAcoronavirus.co.za. This appears to be because coronavirus.co.za currently belongs to a domainer. That bare-bones site has a non-clickable link to the government site, and also an offer to sell the domain.
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Tagged: .za, coronvirus, zadna
Iliya Bazlyankov says:
Funny how to implement that if you have a parked domain name with coming soon page…
Observer says:
Why doesn't the government confiscate http://www.CoronaVirus.co.za like Spain did:
https://www.thedomains.com/2020/03/19/coronavirus-spain/
That http://www.CoronaVirus.co.za owner seems like a real jerk since the link to http://www.sacoronavirus.co.za is not clickable.
Also, I don't see the http://www.sacoronavirus.co.za link at http://www.Google.co.za. Why should Google be exempt, right?