.coop
Encyclopedia
The domain coop is a sponsored top-level domain
(sTLD) in the Domain Name System
of the Internet
. It is intended for the use of cooperative
s, wholly owned subsidiaries, and other organizations that exist to promote or support co-operatives.
The coop TLD was proposed by the National Cooperative Business Association
(NCBA) as a response to the announcement by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in late 2000 of a phased release of seven new generic top-level domains in an expansion of the Internet domain name space.
The proposal was backed by many cooperative
s and similar trade groups around the world, including the International Co-operative Alliance
(ICA). The technical infrastructure for the coop TLD was developed by the worker cooperative
Poptel
in the United Kingdom
and became operational on January 30, 2002.
The domain's sponsoring organization is DotCooperation LLC
(also known as dotCoop), which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Cooperative Business Association. DotCooperation is responsible for the TLD operation, including the enforcement of registration requirements. In 2005, the Midcounties Co-operative assumed operation of the domain registry through a subsidiary unit (Midcounties Co-operative Domains). DynDNS
was contracted as the sole DNS provider for the registry in 2006.
Active coop domains holders are automatically included in an online co-op directory and registrants receive a periodic newsletter. Registrations are processed via accredited ICANN domain name registrar
s or their resellers.
coop domains are in use around the world, however, many co-ops, as businesses in the global community, also maintain domain names in other generic or country code top-level domain
s to identify themselves both as a co-op and as a business.
Sponsored top-level domain
A sponsored top-level domain is one of the categories of top-level domains maintained by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority for use in the Domain Name System of the Internet....
(sTLD) in the Domain Name System
Domain name system
The Domain Name System is a hierarchical distributed naming system for computers, services, or any resource connected to the Internet or a private network. It associates various information with domain names assigned to each of the participating entities...
of the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
. It is intended for the use of cooperative
Cooperative
A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...
s, wholly owned subsidiaries, and other organizations that exist to promote or support co-operatives.
The coop TLD was proposed by the National Cooperative Business Association
National Cooperative Business Association
Founded in 1916 as the Cooperative League of America, the National Cooperative Business Association is a United States membership organization for cooperatives, businesses that are jointly-owned and democratically-controlled....
(NCBA) as a response to the announcement by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in late 2000 of a phased release of seven new generic top-level domains in an expansion of the Internet domain name space.
The proposal was backed by many cooperative
Cooperative
A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...
s and similar trade groups around the world, including the International Co-operative Alliance
International Co-operative Alliance
The International Co-operative Alliance is a non-governmental co-operative federation or, more precisely, a co-operative union representing co-operatives and the co-operative movement worldwide. It was founded in 1895. The ICA maintains the internationally recognised definition of a co-operative...
(ICA). The technical infrastructure for the coop TLD was developed by the worker cooperative
Worker cooperative
A worker cooperative is a cooperative owned and democratically managed by its worker-owners. This control may be exercised in a number of ways. A cooperative enterprise may mean a firm where every worker-owner participates in decision making in a democratic fashion, or it may refer to one in which...
Poptel
Poptel
Poptel was a British internet and on-line services provider that was run by an employee cooperative from 1986 to 2002.In the 1980's Poptel offered on-line communications and information services to international NGOs, working in particular with the Interdoc group...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and became operational on January 30, 2002.
The domain's sponsoring organization is DotCooperation LLC
DotCooperation LLC
DotCooperation LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Cooperative Business Association created in 2001 to manage the .coop top-level domain...
(also known as dotCoop), which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Cooperative Business Association. DotCooperation is responsible for the TLD operation, including the enforcement of registration requirements. In 2005, the Midcounties Co-operative assumed operation of the domain registry through a subsidiary unit (Midcounties Co-operative Domains). DynDNS
DynDNS
Dyn is an infrastructure as a service company that provides Internet DNS and email delivery services for commercial and private users. It originally provided a free dynamic DNS service, which allowed users to have a subdomain that points to a computer with regularly changing IP addresses, such as...
was contracted as the sole DNS provider for the registry in 2006.
Active coop domains holders are automatically included in an online co-op directory and registrants receive a periodic newsletter. Registrations are processed via accredited ICANN domain name registrar
Domain name registrar
A domain name registrar is an organization or commercial entity, accredited by both ICANN and generic top-level domain registry to sell gTLDs and/or by a country code top-level domain registry to sell ccTLDs; to manage the reservation of Internet domain names in accordance with the guidelines of...
s or their resellers.
coop domains are in use around the world, however, many co-ops, as businesses in the global community, also maintain domain names in other generic or country code top-level domain
Country code top-level domain
A country code top-level domain is an Internet top-level domain generally used or reserved for a country, a sovereign state, or a dependent territory....
s to identify themselves both as a co-op and as a business.