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.coop

From ICANNWiki
Status: Active
country: International
Manager: DotCooperation LLC wholly-owned subsidiary of
National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA)
Registry Provider: DynDNS subsidiary of Midcounties Cooperative, Ltd.
Date Implemented: 2001
Type: sTLD
Community TLD: Yes

More information:

.coop is one of the sponsored top-level domain names (sTLD) delegated in the root zone of the domain name system (DNS) of the internet dedicated for the use of cooperatives and cooperative organizations. The National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA) is the sponsoring organization responsible in developing and implementing registry policies for .coop domain space and it is committed in using the surplus revenues earned from the registry to develop cooperatives in underdeveloped countries through the Digital Divide Fund. DotCooperation Llc. (dotCoop), a wholly owned subsidiary of NCBA manages the operations of .coop while Midcounties Co-operative provides back-end registry solutions through its subsidiary DyDNS. The International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) is responsible for the global marketing and outreach of the the .coop sTD. [1]

Background[edit | edit source]

During the first round of ICANN's TLD expansion program in 2000, NCBA proposed the establishment of the .coop TLD in cooperation with the ICA and Poptel, a cooperative Internet services provider (ISP) based UK to serves as registry operator.[2] .Coop was one of the seven sponsored top-level domain names approved by ICANN to be delegated in the DNS root zone along with .aero .biz, .info, .name .pro and .museum. [3]

On May 25, 2001, NCBA created the DotCooperation Llc. to ensure that the .coop registry will be operated independently. NCBA and ICANN signed the Sponsorship Agreement on November 21, 2001. The .coop TLD was eventually included in the DNS root zone on January 15, 2001.Poptel also signed a contract with NCBA to serve as the registry operator.[4]

Founders[edit | edit source]

The founding organizations of the .coop TLD include:[5]

  • National Cooperative Business Association
  • International Co-operative Alliance
  • National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative
  • Co-operatives UK
  • NCB
  • National Dairy Development Board

Registration Eligibility[edit | edit source]

The .coop TLD is restricted and only cooperatives, cooperative support organizations, and businesses owned by cooperatives are allowed to register a domain name. Registrations are verified and all registrants are required to submit an affirmation of membership from two cooperative organizations in their country or region.[6]

Dispute Policy[edit | edit source]

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) was selected by dotCoop to handle all disputes under the .coop domain name space.[7]

References[edit | edit source]