No, they have no "special" value. They can rank just the same in search results as any other TLD. This is proven by the fact that *.edu and *.gov links don't dominate ALL the top search results. The reason most *.edu & *.gov sites have authority is because they provide "rich unique content" that is heavily backlinked to, you can acheive the same results. WHEN WILL THIS MYTH DIE!