Effective March 22, 2021, when registering a .COOP domain name, a self-certification check-box will be presented to the registrant, where they will confirm that they meet the domain’s eligibility requirements.
Further, .COOP domain names registered to new (unverified) registrants will no longer be placed on the “serverHold” status prior to eligibility verification; instead, domains will be activated in the DNS so they can be immediately used.
.COOP registrants must “self-certify” their eligibility during the registration process. This self-certification will then be subject to periodic audit by the registry where they will be required to submit evidence of their eligibility to retain their .coop domain name. Eligibility rules and the Verification process are described in the .COOP Policies.
Registrars are required to include a “self-certification” step when customers purchase .COOP domains. This is a simple checkbox on the domain registration checkout page:
This change is being implemented to simplify the process of registering .COOP domain names, which we believe will benefit the .COOP registrants, as well as the registrars who support it, as .COOP domains will work more like traditional gTLD domains, and will be easier for customers to register and use, and for registrars to support.