As CEO of Coopeative Solutions LLC, I am involved in
cooperative development work. Co-ops are a quiet worldwide
movement
that give power back to the people using traditional
democratic organizational
principals. Co-ops work in third world
countries as well as they do in
the developed world. .co-op will
serve to strengthen this important segment
of the world
economy and distinguish co-ops appropriately from businesses
that
fail to meet the qualifications of a cooperative enterprise.As a supporter of
a new .co-op top level domain, I agree with the
ICANN staff review which concluded
that NCBA's proposal for .co-op is
both technically and financially sound.
I commend ICANN staff for
appropriately including .co-op among the proposed TLDs
still under
consideration and for noting the broad public support for .co-op
and
lack of criticism associated with this proposal.
.co-op is truly
a domain name that will make a difference to Internet
users across the globe.
.co-op will fulfill unmet needs on the
Internet, will open up a broad range of
new domain names, will
enhance competition in domain name registry services,
and most
importantly, will help consumers find the businesses they trust on
the
Internet. Because the word co-op/coop is recognized across the
globe to
represent businesses that are owned and operated by their
members, .co-op will
make a strong new addition to existing TLDs.
To ensure that new TLDs fulfill unmet
needs on the Internet, I urge
ICANN to approve .co-op as the Special Purpose
TLD that will truly
make a difference on the Internet.
Sincerely,
David E.
Leppert
CEO
Cooperative Solutions LLC
Founder of the following cooperatives:
AMAROK,
Inc. (1996)
NEMEON, Inc. (1999)
Co-Founder
Sphere1, Inc. (1999)