Why is .gov only for US government agencies?

[sthaug at nethelp.no (sthaug at nethelp.no)]

> Wondering if some of the long-time list members
> can shed some light on the question--why is the
> .gov top level domain only for use by US
> government agencies?  Where do other world
> powers put their government agency domains?
> 
> With the exception of the cctlds, shouldn't the
> top-level gtlds be generically open to anyone
> regardless of borders?

Do you have reason to believe that governments of other countries would
*want* to use the .gov TLD?

Steinar Haug, Nethelp consulting, sthaug at nethelp.no