The National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA), which spearheaded the drive for the cooperative-only Internet domain, has formed a new subsidiary, DotCooperation LLC, which has been granted exclusive rights to register Internet addresses with the .coop suffix by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). ICANN has nominal authority over the worldwide operations of the Internet.
CUNA had been negotiating with the NCBA to become a "Founder" of DotCooperation, which would have entitled CUNA-member credit unions to apply for registration for the new .coop Internet domain addresses in advance of this summer's official launch, but pulled out of the negotiations, according to Pete Crear, executive vice president for CUNA and chairman of NCBA. The price of becoming a Founder, about $250,000, was too steep, said Crear, who will serve on the nine-member board of DotCooperation.
NCBA has signed three cooperative groups as Founders so far, Nationwide Insurance, the National Cooperative Bank, and the Confederation of Latin American CUs, or COLAC, according to Jeannine Kenney, spokesperson for the cooperative group. As Founders, a group can participate in the development of the .coop domain and apply for early registration of domain names, helping to ensure their members get their desired web address before those addresses are claimed.
The .coop domain is expected to become available to credit unions and other cooperatives around midsummer, pending completion of NCBA's contract negotiations with ICANN, said Kenney. The cost of registration is expected to be about $150 for two years, several times higher than that charged by VeriSign, the registrar for most Internet addresses, because of the required verification process, among other things.
Tech Support To Be Provided
As part of the registration process NCBA's new subsidiary will work to verify that applicants for the .coop domain are legitimate cooperatives, that is, member-owned and operated, will help to resolve disputes, and set policy, according to Kenney. The company will operate a help center to answer questions related to registration and eligibility for the new domain. Technical services for DotCooperation will be provided by Poptel, a worker-owned cooperative providing Internet services in Britain.
Separately, the FTC issued a consumer warning that several unauthorized entities have been falsely marketing "preregistration" for the .coop and six other Internet domains approved last November by ICANN. Consumers are getting unsolicited faxes and e-mails that offer a chance at a name in a new top level domain, for a fee, "as soon as it becomes available," the FTC said.
Paul Hazen, head of NCBA, said his group has taken a tough stand against these entities, sending cease-and-desist letters to almost two-dozen companies that have made misleading offers and statements promising preregistration for a .coop address. The .coop domain was one of seven approved by ICANN last November to supplement the existing domains of .com, .net, .org and .gov.
