Generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) Registry Agreements

gTLD Registry Agreements establish the rights, duties, liabilities, and obligations ICANN requires of registry operators to run gTLDs.

.coop Agreement Appendix S

.coop Agreement Appendix S

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Appendix S

(1 July 2007)


Appendix S

Contents

 

Part I .coop sTLD Charter

Part II Delegated Authority

Part III Description of .coop Sponsored TLD Community

Part IV Selection of Registrars

Part V Public Whois

Part VI Existing Sponsor Services

 

Appendix S – Part I

.COOP Charter

 The .coop TLD will be established to serve the needs of the international cooperative community ("Community"). It will be managed in accordance with the provisions of this charter ("Charter") and in the interests of the Community.

  1. The Sponsor will be responsible for establishing registration requirements for the .coop TLD, provided that registrations shall be granted only to persons or entities that are defined in item 3 below.
  2. For the purposes of this Charter, a "cooperative" is an organization meeting the definition and committed to the values and principles set forth in the Statement on the Co-operative Identity (see http://www.ica.coop/coop/principles.html) adopted by the International Co-operative Alliance (" ICA"), as set forth below and as it may be revised from time to time.
  3. Sponsor's policies may permit registration within the Community by the following:

    (a) members of the National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA), if otherwise eligible;

    (b) members of ICA, if otherwise eligible;

    (c) organizations formed as and/or considered cooperatives under applicable local law;

    (d) associations comprised of cooperatives;

    (e) organizations that are committed to the seven cooperative principles;

    (f) organizations that are majority controlled by cooperatives;

    (g) entities whose operations are principally dedicated to serving cooperatives; and

    (h) for no more than 5000 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.

  4. The Sponsor may establish stricter requirements for registrants according to the requirements of policy-development set forth in the Sponsored TLD Sponsorship Agreement.
  5. The Sponsor will promptly convey to ICANN any modifications that may be made to the definition of "cooperative" in the ICA Statement of Co-operative Identity.

From Statement of Co-operative Identity

Definition - A co-operative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise.

Values - Co-operatives are based on the values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity, and solidarity. In the tradition of their founders, co-operative members believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility, and caring for others.

Principles - The co-operative principles are guidelines by which co-operatives put their values into practice.

1st Principle: Voluntary and Open Membership - Co-operatives are voluntary organizations, open to all persons able to use their services and willing to accept the responsibilities of membership, without gender, social, racial, political, or religious discrimination.

2nd Principle: Democratic Member Control - Co-operatives are democratic organizations controlled by their members, who actively participate in setting their policies and making decisions. Men and women serving as elected representatives are accountable to the membership. In primary co-operatives members have equal voting rights (one member, one vote), and co-operatives at other levels are also organized in a democratic manner.

3rd Principle: Member Economic Participation - Members contribute equitably to, and democratically control, the capital of their co-operative. At least part of that capital is usually the common property of the co-operative. Members usually receive limited compensation, if any, on capital subscribed as a condition of membership. Members allocate surpluses for any or all of the following purposes: developing their co-operative, possibly by setting up reserves, part of which at least would be indivisible; benefiting members in proportion to their transactions with the co-operative; and supporting other activities approved by the membership.

4th Principle: Autonomy and Independence - Co-operatives are autonomous, self-help organizations controlled by their members. If they enter into agreements with other organizations, including governments, or raise capital from external sources, they do so on terms that ensure democratic control by their members and maintain their co-operative autonomy.

5th Principle: Education, Training and Information - Co-operatives provide education and training for their members, elected representatives, managers, and employees so they can contribute effectively to the development of their co-operatives. They inform the general public - particularly young people and opinion leaders - about the nature and benefits of co-operation.

6th Principle: Co-operation Among Co-operatives - Co-operatives serve their members most effectively and strengthen the co-operative movement by working together through local, national, regional, and international structures.

7th Principle: Concern for Community - Co-operatives work for the sustainable development of their communities through policies approved by their members.

 

Appendix S – Part II

Delegated Authority

The following areas of responsibility for development of policies for the Sponsored TLD are delegated to the Sponsor, provided the other provisions of the Agreement and its Appendices are followed:

  1. Establishment of naming conventions to be used in the Sponsored TLD.
  2. Restrictions on what types of people or entities may register Domain Names (which need not be uniform for all names within the Sponsored TLD), provided the scope of the Charter is not exceeded.
  3. Restrictions on how Registered Names may be used (which need not be uniform for all names within the Sponsored TLD), provided the scope of the Charter is not exceeded.
  4. Performance of Eligibility and Name-Selection Services (ENS Services), either directly by the Sponsor or by one or more organizations or individuals to which it delegates the responsibility for performing ENS Services.
  5. Mechanisms for enforcement of the restrictions in items 2 and 3, including procedures for revocation or cancellation of registrations. See also Subsection 3.1(d)(i)(B).
  6. Mechanisms for resolution of disputes concerning eligibility and of disputes between owners of rights (who may or may not be registrants) in names and registrants, that do not supplant ICANN's dispute-resolution policies or remedies that may be available under law.
  7. Selection of Registry Operator (back-end registry provider) and establishment of the terms of agreement between the Sponsor and the provider.
  8. Selection of other service providers.
  9. Functional and performance specifications for Sponsor Services.
  10. Pricing of Sponsor Services.
  11. Modifications of Sponsor Services that do not represent material changes to approved Sponsor Services.
  12. Matters concerning the operation of the registry for the Sponsored TLD.
  13. Selection of ICANN-Accredited Registrars to act as registrars for the Sponsored TLD, consistent with Part IV of this Appendix S.
  14. Terms of agreement to be offered by the Sponsor to ICANN-Accredited Registrars selected by Sponsor, including provisions for fair treatment by the Sponsor and the Registry Operator of those registrars.
  15. Practices of ICANN-Accredited Registrars selected by Sponsor with respect to (a) Registered Names and their registration and (b) other Sponsor Services and (c) Registry technical platform, including limiting their access to the registration system due to abuses on those areas, subject to Section 7.1 of the TLD Sponsorship Agreement.
  16. Terms of agreement between registrars and registrants under which Registered Names are registered.
  17. Uses and practices by registrants with respect to Registered Names.
  18. Provisions for publication of registry and registrar data consistent with the TLD Sponsorship Agreement and Registrar Accreditation Agreements.
  19. Terms of agreement between or among Sponsor, Registry Operator, registrars, and registrants necessary to give effect to the above.
  20. Reservation of names to be withheld from general registration in the sTLD (in addition to those names reserved by ICANN and set forth in Appendix 6).
  21. Other areas of responsibility as agreed to in writing by both ICANN and Sponsor.
  22. Any other policies or practices not inconsistent with the Agreement, ICANN Temporary Specifications and Policies, or Consensus Policies as applicable.

 

Appendix S – Part III

Description of Sponsored TLD Community

The .coop TLD is intended to serve the needs of the international cooperative community, which consists of those persons or entities eligible to register in the .coop TLD pursuant to the Charter (Part I to this Appendix S).

 

Appendix S – Part IV

Selection of Registrars

Sponsor will select among ICANN-accredited registrars wishing to register domain names in the Sponsored TLD in a manner that promotes the following characteristics:
  1. Recognition of the public-benefit nature of the .coop TLD and demonstrated willingness to participate in providing registrar services to registrants in that spirit;
  2. Thorough and demonstrated understanding of the principles and intentions underlying .coop TLD policies;
  3. Demonstrated familiarity with the needs of the cooperative community;
  4. Demonstrated familiarity with the particular requirements of cooperatives in the language and region(s) served by the registrar;
  5. Established business relationships with substantial numbers (proportionate to the size of the registrar) of cooperatives or with organizations representing the cooperative community in the region(s) served by the registrar;
  6. Demonstrated willingness and ability to publicize and market the .coop TLD, and to follow all .coop TLD marketing guidelines and to use its materials as appropriate;
  7. Contractual commitment to remit a stated portion (established by the Sponsor from time to time on a uniform basis) of any registrar service fees received to the Sponsor's Digital Divide Fund or, in lieu thereof, to make a stated initial contribution to such fund, proportionate to the size of the registrar;
  8. Demonstration that sufficient staff resources are available and ability to interface with automated and manual elements of the .coop TLD registry process;
  9. Demonstrated systems designed to avoid submission of unqualified or incomplete applications that will burden the ENS system or make it impossible for the Sponsor to fulfill its commitments to ICANN;
  10. Demonstrated systems designed to avoid any disputes regarding transfers among registrars and acceptance of any Sponsor policies and procedures established in that regard;
  11. Acceptance of Sponsor policies and designated procedures for grace periods for registrants;
  12. Demonstrated willingness to share with the Sponsoring Organization contact information concerning .coop registrants;
  13. Willingness to provide reduced fee or free services to cooperatives from developing countries who meet minimum criteria (established by Sponsor) for special assistance; and
  14. Willingness and ability to post and refresh a minimum deposit against which fees will be drawn.

Sponsor will periodically review and as appropriate revise its selection of registrars. Sponsor will accept applications from any ICANN-accredited Registrar and will enter into agreements with Registrars only after a decision with respect to the selection of each applicant to serve as a Registrar based on all of the above criteria and will periodically review and, as appropriate, revise its selection of Registrars based on such criteria.

 

Appendix S – PartIV

Public Whois Specification

Subject to Sponsor's compliance with this .coop TLD Registry Agreement, including all attachments and appendices thereto (the "Agreement") and any Temporary Specifications or Policies or Consensus Policies as defined in the Agreement, and provided the scope of the Charter is not exceeded Sponsor will ensure that the Registry Operator will implement the following Public Whois Specification.

SPECIFICATION

Subject to any future policy regarding Whois data adopted by ICANN, domain name registrants will be required to provide correct contact information and, as permitted by applicable law, consent to selected information being made public for legitimate purposes.

Until a generally accepted specification replacing RFC 3912 is available, the Registry will provide RFC 3912-compliant Whois service. The specification contained in this Part V to Appendix S is subject to change by agreement of the Registry and ICANN during the design process as well as during the IETF standards process. However, the following provides the target architecture and initial functionality. In addition, Registry agrees to implement changes to this specification specified by ICANN to conform to IETF provreg working group's protocol specification no later than 135 days after the IETF specification is adopted as a Proposed Standard [RFC 2026, section 4.1.1].

Whois Data Management

This draws on the contents of the registry databases. It dynamically generates or deletes Whois records. These are periodically uploaded to the publicly visible Whois Servers.

Whois service features summary

  • Standard protocol accessible over TCP on port 43
  • Consistent format (fields and formatting) for all registrars
  • Near real-time updates, and the ability to change update time easily if required
  • Extensible field capability
  • Servers return a single response per .coop domain name unless required to hold connection via holdconnection directive
  • Whois service expandable through use of directives
  • Load balanced for high availability, high load
  • Network redundancy for high availability, high load
  • Multiple servers for zero down time maintenance

Whois service data elements

These include:

  • The name of the domain name registered
  • The IP addresses of the primary Name Server and secondary Name Server(s) of the .coop domain name registered
  • The corresponding names of those Name Servers
  • The identity of the registrar
  • The original creation date
  • Date of last modification
  • Contact information for the registrant, administrative, technical, and billing contacts

Whois Queries

The Whois service will work with any RFC 3912 compliant Whois client and is designed to be as simple as possible.

The input to the Whois server consists of two parts: the options and the query itself.

If the search parameter is "?" (without the quotes), and no object type is given, no search is performed and a short summary about the input format is returned.

The -b option allows the user to specify the number of characters on a line output by the WHOIS server.

By default, the Whois service searches for domain names. By the following keywords, the search type can be determined:

  • Domain: Search only by domain objects. The input string is searched in the Name field.
  • Contact: Search only contact objects. The input string is searched in the ID field.
  • Nameserver: Search only nameserver objects. The input string is searched in the nameserver name field and the IP address field.
  • Registrar: Search only registrar objects. The input string is searched in the Name field.

By default, if no object type control is specified, then the Name field of the Domain object is searched.

Notes

Queries can be made as either an "exact search" or as a "partial search", both of which are insensitive to the case of input string.

An exact search specifies the full string to search for in the database field. An exact match between the input string and the field value is required. For example "dotcoop.coop" will only match with "dotcoop.coop".

A partial search specifies the start of the string to search for in the database field. Every record with a search field that starts with the input string will be considered a match.

To initiate partial searches the asterisk wildcard is used "*". For example "dot*" will match with "dotcoop.coop" as well as "dotcooperation.coop". The Wild card query can be used in the front and/or end of the search string. By default, if multiple matches are found for a query, then full details of all matching results are presented.

Client/Server Session for Query

  • The client connects to the server
  • The server returns the dotCoop banner
  • The client sends one or more directives to the server
  • The server returns the response to each directive
  • The client finally sends a query to the server
  • The server returns the query results
  • The server closes the connection, unless the client has directed not to close the connection.

Whois Output Fields

This section describes the output fields provided for each type of object.

Domain Record: A Whois query that results in domain information will return the following fields from the Domain object and the associated data from host and contact objects. This set of data is also referred to as the Domain Record.

Domain ID
Domain Name
Sponsoring Registrar
Domain Status
Registrant, Administrative, Technical and Billing Contact Information including:
   Contact ID
   Contact Name
   Contact Organization
   Contact Address (3 Street Fields), City, State/Province, Country
   Contact Postal Code
   Contact Phone, Fax, E-mail
Names of nameservers associated with this domain
Created by Registrar
Last Updated by Registrar
Last Transferred Date
Additional fields (Registrar specified)
Domain Registration Date
Domain Expiration Date
Domain Last Updated Date

















Nameserver Record:

Nameserver ID
Nameserver name
Currently Associated (true/false)
Nameserver status
IP addresses associated
Sponsoring Registrar
Created by Registrar
Last Updated by Registrar
Last Transferred Date
Additional fields (Registrar specified)








Contact Record:

Contact ID
Contact Name
Contact Organization
Contact Address (3 Street Fields), City, State/Province, Country
Contact Postal Code
Contact Phone, Fax, E-mail
Currently Associated
Contact Status
ENS Identity
Sponsoring Registrar
Created Registrar
Contact Registration Date
Contact Last Updated Date
Last Transferred Date












Registrar Record:

Registrar ID (conforming to IANA registrar-id registry)
Registrar Name
Registrar Status
Registrar Address (3 Street Fields), City, State/Province, Country
Registrar Postal Code
Registrar Phone, Fax, E-mail
Registrar Administrative Contact(s)
Registrar Technical Contact(s)
Registrar Billing Contact(s)







Sample Whois Output

This section provides sample output from the Whois server for each type of Registry Object: Domain, Contact, Nameserver, and Registrar. The output is structured as key/value pairs, which simplifies machine-readability. In the Input section, the quoted string represents the string actually passed by the client to the server in the request packet.

Domain Record:

Input:

whois "domain test.coop"
or
whois "test.coop"

Output:

Domain ID: 1234D-COOP
Domain Name: test.coop
Expiry Date: 30 Jan 2007 00:00:00 UTC
Domain Status: clientRenewProhibited
Sponsoring registrar: test-registrar
Sponsoring registrar ID: 123
Created by: test-registrar
Created by ID: 123
Last updated by: test-registrar
Last updated by ID: 123
Created: 09 Jul 2001 22:26:07 UTC
Last updated: 26 Jul 2006 13:52:55 UTC
Last transferred:











Contact Type: registrant
Contact ID: 56789C-COOP
Name: FN Lastname
Organisation: Test Co-op
Street 1: Address 1a
Street 2: Address 1b
Street 3: Address 1c
City: City Name
State/Province: State Code
Postal code: Postal Code
Country: Country Name
Voice: +1.1231231234
Voice extn:
Fax: +1.1231231234
Fax extn:
Email: fnlastname@test.coop














Contact Type: admin
Contact ID: 13567C-COOP
Name: FN Lastname
Organisation: Test Co-op
Street 1: Address 1a
Street 2: Address 1b
Street 3: Address 1c
City: City Name
State/Province: State Code
Postal code: Postal Code
Country: Country Name
Voice: +1.1231231234
Voice extn:
Fax: +1.1231231234
Fax extn:
Email: fnlastname@test.coop














Contact Type: billing
Contact ID: 09876C-COOP
Name: FN Lastname
Organisation: Test Co-op
Street 1: Address 1a
Street 2: Address 1b
Street 3: Address 1c
City: City Name
State/Province: State Code
Postal code: Postal Code
Country: Country Name
Voice: +1.1231231234
Voice extn:
Fax: +1.1231231234
Fax extn:
Email: fnlastname@test.coop














Contact Type: tech
Contact ID: 97531C-COOP
Name: FN Lastname
Organisation: Test Co-op
Street 1: Address 1a
Street 2: Address 1b
Street 3: Address 1c
City: City Name
State/Province: State Code
Postal code: Postal Code
Country: Country Name
Voice: +1.1231231234
Voice extn:
Fax: +1.1231231234
Fax extn:
Email: fnlastname@test.coop














Host ID: 42003H-COOP
Host Name: ns1.testhost.coop

Host ID: 42004H-COOP
Host Name: ns2.testhost.coop

Contact Record:

Input:

whois "contact 56789C-COOP"

Output:

Contact ID:               56789C-COOP
Sponsoring registrar:     test-registrar
Sponsoring registrar ID: 123
Created by:               test-registrar
Created by ID:            123
Last updated by:         
Last updated by ID:      
Created:                  28 Oct 2005 09:44:07 UTC
Last updated:            
Last transferred:        








Name: FN Lastname
Organisation: Test Co-op
Street 1: Address 1a
Street 2: Address 1b
Street 3: Address 1c
City: City Name
State/Province: State Code
Postal code: Postal Code
Country: Country Name
Voice: +1.1231231234
Voice extn:
Fax: +1.1231231234
Fax extn:
Email: fnlastname@test.coop












Nameserver Record:

Input:

whois "nameserver ns1.testhost.coop"
or
whois "host ns1.testhost.coop"

Output:

Host ID:                  42003H-COOP
Nameserver Name:          ns1.testhost.coop
Sponsoring registrar:     test-registrar
Sponsoring registrar ID: 123
Created by:               test-registrar
Created by ID:            123
Last updated by:         
Last updated by ID:      
Created:                  10 Mar 2005 04:52:22 UTC
Last updated:            
Last transferred:
IP Address: 10.10.10.10        










Registrar Record:

Input:

whois "registrar test-registrar"

Output:

Registrar Name: test-registrar
Registrar ID:    123

Contact Type: admin
Name: Registrar Name
Organisation: Registrar Company Name
Street 1: Address 1a
Street 2: Address 1b
Street 3: Address 1c
City: City Name
State/Province: State Code
Postal code: Postal Code
Country: Country Name
Voice: +1.1231231234
Voice extn:
Fax: +1.1231231234
Fax extn:
Email: registrarname@registrarcompanyname.coop













Contact Type: billing
Name: Registrar Name
Organisation: Registrar Company Name
Street 1: Address 1a
Street 2: Address 1b
Street 3: Address 1c
City: City Name
State/Province: State Code
Postal code: Postal Code
Country: Country Name
Voice: +1.1231231234
Voice extn:
Fax: +1.1231231234
Fax extn:
Email: registrarname@registrarcompanyname.coop













Contact Type: legal
Name: Registrar Name
Organisation: Registrar Company Name
Street 1: Address 1a
Street 2: Address 1b
Street 3: Address 1c
City: City Name
State/Province: State Code
Postal code: Postal Code
Country: Country Name
Voice: +1.1231231234
Voice extn:
Fax: +1.1231231234
Fax extn:
Email: registrarname@registrarcompanyname.coop













Contact Type: tech
Name: Registrar Name
Organisation: Registrar Company Name
Street 1: Address 1a
Street 2: Address 1b
Street 3: Address 1c
City: City Name
State/Province: State Code
Postal code: Postal Code
Country: Country Name
Voice: +1.1231231234
Voice extn:
Fax: +1.1231231234
Fax extn:
Email: registrarname@registrarcompanyname.coop













 

Appendix S – Part VI

Existing Sponsor Services  

As of the Effective Date Sponsor offers the following Sponsor Service:

  • Active Domain Directory – currently at www.directory.coop, the Sponsor provides a directory, searchable by various data elements, of all active .coop domains.