On 31 March, 2008, the dotCoop Board of Managers approved two new policies to define broad support by dotCoop for pricing and domain use to encourage domain registration in the .coop domain.
On 31 March, 2008, the dotCoop Board of Managers approved two new policies to define broad support by dotCoop for pricing and domain use to encourage domain registration in the .coop domain.
The policies approved by the Board were:
– .Coop Domains Bulk Registration Offer Policy
– .Coop Domain Name Category Policy
The .Coop Domains Bulk Registration Offer Policy openly encourages potential registrants and registrars to propose bulk pricing programs to encourage .coop registrations that may be affected by pricing.
The .Coop Domain Name Category Policy allows eligible co-operatives to submit proposals to .coop to allow registration and/or reservation of domain names with a particular structure. This will support co-operatives that want to work with an entire group of domains to create consumer recognition of the name structure. Proposals will be submitted to dotCoop but domain registration will continue to be with the dotCoop accrediated registrar of choice of the co-op submitting a proposal.
Both of these policies seek to support innovative proposals from cooperatives seeking to create additional registrations in the .coop TLD that can take advantage of the many names that are still available in the .coop namespace.
Please see the complete policies below and contact us with your proposals!
DotCooperation LLC
.Coop Domains Bulk Registration Offer Policy
1.   Purpose
DotCooperation would like to explore the possibility of marketing initiatives involving bulk registrations that could assist the cooperative community in exploring different business ideas and concepts.
2.   Scope
This policy applies to all eligible organizations as defined in the dotCoop Charter
(http://www.icann.org/tlds/agreements/coop/appendix-S01jul07.htm#part1) and to their selected registrars.
3.   Policy
DotCooperation LLC would like to encourage registration of large numbers of .coop domain names by eligible cooperatives and cooperative organizations by allowing for special pricing for these organizations and their selected registrars.
Consistent with the marketing initiatives of other gTLD registries, both sponsored and unsponsored, dotCoop believes that exploring the marketing potential associated with bulk registration pricing could offer benefits to the cooperative community as a whole.
Tiered pricing can be proposed in, but is not limited to, the following levels:
Less than 1,000 Domain Name Years
From 1,000 â 5,000 Domain Name Years
Greater than 5,000 Domain Name Years
DotCooperation LLC
.Coop Domain Name Category Policy
1.   Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to identify the requirements for eligible co-operatives to propose the reservation of specific categories of domain names so that a predictable name structure can be established.
2.   Scope
This policy applies to all eligible organizations as defined in the dotCoop Charter (http://www.icann.org/tlds/agreements/coop/appendix-S-01jul07.htm#part1) and to their selected registrars.
3.   Policy
DotCooperation LLC recognizes the need for co-operative businesses to clearly identify particular name structures to facilitate business development efforts. These structures will enable Internet users to recognize these name structures to more effectively identify particular sites within the .coop domain.
Eligible cooperatives may submit proposals to DotCooperation LLC to establish particular domain name categories with the following restrictions and requirements:
1.   The domain name category must not conflict with existing general domain registrations or existing domain name categories
2.   The proposing cooperative must explicitly agree to the dotCoop Dispute Resolution Policy in case of any domain name registration conflict with the domain name category
3.   The proposing cooperative must define the exact structure of the domain name category
4.   The proposing cooperative must define the exact set of domain names that would be initially reserved
5.   The proposing cooperative must define the process and timetable for the registration of the individual domain names within the category
6.   The proposed domain name category cannot require any changes to the registry system that would require any changes by existing registrars to continue registration and support of new or existing .coop domains
DotCoop will evaluate all Domain Name Category proposals as quickly as possible. All decisions concerning acceptance or rejection of a Domain Name Category proposal are at the discretion of dotCoop.
If a proposal is accepted, dotCoop will then enter into specific negotiations with the proposing cooperative to define all aspects of the implementation associated with supporting the proposed Domain Name Category resulting in a mutually agreeable contract.
This announcement is also available from the .coop website at www.nic.coop/news/display.asp?id=123.