[registrars] .COOP Registry/Registrar Introduction

["Michael D. Palage" <michael@palage.com>]

Hello All:

During the Bucharest meeting I introduced a number of registrars to the
representatives from .COOP. Listed below is an introduction that I was asked
to forward to the registrar mailing list on behalf of .COOP. I apologize for
not posting this email sooner, but it got lost in the avalanche of email
that fills my inbox daily. Should anyone have any questions or comments
please contact the .COOP representatives listed below.

Best regards,

Mike




.COOP Registry/Registrar Introduction

dotCoop welcomes applications from all ICANN-accredited registrars to
become a qualified .coop registrar. The following is a summary of key
features of the registry and the registrar application process.

DOTCOOP IS OPEN FOR REGISTRAR APPLICATIONS
dotCoop, the Sponsor of the .coop TLD is now accepting applications
from all ICANN accredited registrars who would like to make .coop a
part of their sales program. dotCoop has set no minimum or maximum
number of registrars and applications will be accepted on an ongoing
basis from July 1, 2002. Details of the application process and all
relevant documents can be found at www.coop.


BACKGROUND TO THE .COOP REGISTRY
The .coop TLD is one of the seven new TLDs approved by ICANN.
DotCooperation LLC  (dotCoop) is a non-profit organization that
serves as the Sponsor for the TLD, which is open only to cooperatives
and cooperative supporting organizations. The registry operator is
Poptel Ltd. dotCoop is based in Washington D.C. and Poptel is based
in London and Manchester.

dotCoop launched on January 30, 2002. The launch was a full, global
launch. Between January 30 and June 30 dotCoop went through an
implementation testing and evaluation phase. The most significant
aspect of this evaluation involved the evaluating procedures for
verification of eligibility. Verification of eligibility is the sole
responsibility of dotCoop. All registrars will be required to use
their best efforts to ensure that only qualified applicants register
.coop names.

STATUS OF THE .COOP TLD AND THE CO-OP MARKET
At this date there are approximately 6,000 registrations of .coop
names. The largest group of registrations is in North America, but
western Europe is a significant market as well.

dotCoop has developed a marketing support network of national
cooperative organizations in the US, Canada, UK, France, Italy,
Spain, India, Puerto Rico, and Costa Rica. This network will be able
to assist registrars in marketing efforts in their countries. The
network will be continually expanded.

The retail price of names to this date has been $160US for a minimum
two-year registration. The wholesale price to registrars will be $64
per name per year with a two-year minimum registration.

All registrations accepted by the registry prior to the introduction
of registrars will be reallocated to registrars on the basis of
registrant selection from a list of approved registrars.

Cooperative organizations are businesses operated on a democratic
model of member ownership and control based on the principle of
one-member, one-vote. Control is not based on investment and the
purposes of all co-ops include social improvement. Cooperatives
operate in all business sectors and all countries and include
multi-billion dollar enterprises as well as small development
organizations.

There are approximately one million cooperatives world wide
representing about 750 million members. There are approximately
40,000 cooperatives in the U.S. including credit unions, about
300,000 cooperatives in Europe and as many as 400,000 in India alone.
Asia is the fastest growing region.

Cooperatives are highly organized with regional, national and
international federations. The US federation, the National
Cooperative Business Association, was formed in 1906, while the
International Co-operative Association was formed in 1895.

REGISTRAR QUALIFICATION
Only ICANN-accredited registrars are eligible to apply to become
.coop registrars. In addition, .coop registrars must meet further
qualifications in three general areas: i) co-op market knowledge and
support; ii) technical support and evaluation and iii) business
qualification. The full list of qualifications is set out in
dotCoop's agreement with ICANN and in the background information
provided in the registrar application materials at www.coop.

Only cooperatives or cooperative supporting organizations are
eligible for .coop names so knowledge of the co-op business model and
markets is essential for a registrar to operate effectively.
Technically, the registration system must permit delivery of
supporting data to the registry enabling eligibility verification to
take place. The business qualifications placed on registrars are, by
and large, those that are common in the industry.

THE APPLICATION PROCESS
dotCoop is now accepting applications and dotCoop staff will assist
applicants to file correct and complete applications. All complete
applications received on or before August 15 will be treated as Phase
1 applicants and all reallocations of registrants will only be made
to qualified registrars who are included in Phase 1.

All applications will be reviewed to determine if they meet the .coop
special non-technical qualifications, those that do will move on to
technical testing and evaluation. Registrars that meet both the
technical and non-technical requirements will become .coop accredited
registrars. For Phase 1 applicants the technical and non-technical
reviews are projected to be completed by September 30, 2002.
Reallocation of registrants will occur on October 30.

MORE INFORMATION AND CONTACTS
Full information can be found at www.coop. Further enquiries can be made
to:

For general information contact:
Carolyn Hoover, dotCoop
choover@ncba.coop

For information on non-technical and business qualifications contact:
Byron Henderson, dotCoop
bhenderson@ncba.cooop

For information on technical qualifications contact:
Stuart Marsden, Poptel
stuart.marsden@poptel.coop

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