About Eligibility

1. Who can register a .coop domain name?
2. What are the .coop TLD Eligibility Criteria?
3. Who sets the eligibility criteria?
4. How will dotCoop ensure that only eligible organizations purchase names in the .coop domain?
5. Can a member of a cooperative purchase a .coop name?
6. What happens if my registration is determined to be ineligible?
7. What happens if an eligible registrant becomes ineligible?
8. What is a "majority owned" business in terms of eligibility?
9. Does a co-op have to meet all of seven of the cooperative principles to be eligible?
10. Are "mutual" insurance companies eligible for .coop?
11. Can we buy a name if our co-op is not fully organized?
    
    

Only cooperatives, cooperative service organizations and subsidiaries of cooperatives will be eligible to use the .coop domain name. It is the responsibility of dotCoop to ensure that organizations that register .coop names meet the .coop TLD Eligibility Criteria as noted below.

If you are not sure if your organization is eligible, please contact support@communicate.coop. Ineligible registrants forfeit the entire registration fee.
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To be approved to register and use a .coop domain name, an applicant must qualify under at least one of the following criteria:

• members of the National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA)if otherwise eligible;
• members of the International Cooperative Alliance(ICA) if otherwise eligible;
• organizations formed as and/or considered cooperatives under applicable local law;
• associations comprised of cooperatives;
• organizations that are committed to the seven cooperative principles;
• organizations that are majority controlled by cooperatives;
• entities whose operations are principally dedicated to serving cooperatives; and
• for no more than 5,000 registrants, persons or entities whose use of a .coop domain name would, in the opinion of the DCLLC Board, advance the interests of the cooperative sector in general or would assist in the development of cooperatives worldwide.

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3. Who sets the eligibility criteria?

As the sponsor, dotCoop sets eligibility policies for registration for the .coop TLD based on the criteria defined in the agreement with ICANN. Eligibility criteria are specified in the Registration Agreement .
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DotCoop will validate that all registrants meet the eligibility criteria as agreed to in the Charter using information from the Internet, the Sponsors, the Verification Partners and co-operative organizations around the world to verify the eligibility of registrants.
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Individuals cannot purchase a .coop name for their own use. Domain names can only be registered by an eligible cooperative organization. Of course, individuals within a cooperative organization will be performing the actual purchase of names for the cooperative.
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You will be informed of an appeals process if you feel this determination was made in error. You will have 30 days to initiate the appeals process. The names you have registered will remain in reserve until any appeals process is completed.

If you are determined to be ineligible for a .coop domain, you will forfeit the entire registration fee and the names you have purchased will be released from the reserved name system.

If you are not sure that you are eligible, please contact the registry at support@communicate.coop to confirm your eligibility.
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If an eligible registrant becomes ineligible to hold a .coop name because of demutualization, dissolution of the co-op or other means, then the registrant should notify dotCoop within 30 days and the name will be revoked and become available for repurchase by another eligible organization. DotCoop will also move to revoke names if notified by this change by outside parties using the standard manual verification process.
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A business must be at least 51% owned by a cooperative or cooperatives in order to be eligible.
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Yes. Of course, if the principle is not relevant to that type of co-op then it would not be required. For instance, many buying co-ops do not require capital investment so that principal would not apply to that type of co-op.
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Mutuals that operate on a cooperative basis are eligible for a .coop domain. Eligibility has to be determined on a case-by-case basis. Please contact support@communicate.coop for more information.
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Yes, you can purchase a name for your co-op as it is being formed. DotCoop recognizes the need to create your Internet identity as an integral part of the start-up of any company in today's world. However, dotCoop reserves the right to review your eligibility after an appropriate time and revoke your .coop domains with no refund if the organization that is created is not eligible as defined by our Charter. Generally, dotCoop reviews such registrations within six months of registration.
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