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Username: ouachita
Date/Time: Fri, October 27, 2000 at 3:01 PM GMT
Browser: Microsoft Internet Explorer V4.01 using Windows 98
Score: 5
Subject: Vote Yes for .Co-op

Message: 		 

 
On behalf of the 9200 members of Ouachita Electric Cooperative, I am
writing to urge the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
(ICANN) to approve the proposal for a .co-op top-level domain.  The National
Cooperative Business Association (NCBA) and Poptel are proposing .co-op with
the full endorsement of the International Cooperative Alliance.

Our cooperative provides electric service to consumers in 5 different counties in south Arkansas. I serve as the Member Services Manager and see the need to have this special high level identification.

As a rural, consumer-owned electric cooperative, Ouachita Electric works hard to
provide our members with the best services possible. And we follow the
International Cooperative Alliance cooperative principles, such as member
ownership and control. That makes our job more challenging than
investor-owned businesses, but it has also earned us the trust of the people
we serve.

As consumers become increasingly cynical about the constant ebb and flow of
new and defunct e-businesses, it's critical that cooperative businesses have
an opportunity to identify themselves to consumers and others who prefer to
do business with us.  While many cooperatives use .com and .org, neither
accurately characterizes co-ops to Internet users. Consumers need a way to
find the businesses they trust on the Internet. The .co-op TLD will help do
that.

Though my cooperative provides electric service to predominantly rural
consumers, co-ops operate in virtually all industries, in 100 countries, and
in both rural and urban areas; there are 750,000 cooperatives worldwide with
725 million members. As a result, the .co-op TLD will apply to a broad range
of businesses across the globe.

I urge you to move quickly to approve .co-op.

Sincerely,

Tim Smith
 

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