CO is the new domain extension that offers a truly global, recognizable and credible domain name for individuals and organizations to build their businesses and brands.  It’s the online space where possibility meets opportunity; where people can fulfill their dreams and the world’s next great enterprises will have a home. 

The company behind the .CO registry is .CO Internet S.A.S., a strategic venture formed between Arcelandia S.A., a wholly owned Colombian company, and the U.S. company Neustar, Inc. to administer, operate and promote the .CO Top-Level Domain.  Arcelandia is a holding company with interests in a variety of Internet-related and other businesses; and Neustar is a world-leading provider of global registry and managed DNS services for top-level domains.

Neustar, Inc. will operate the technical infrastructure of the .CO registry. Neustar has been in business since 2001 offering full technical, operational, and policy expertise for numerous domains including .biz, .us, .travel and .TEL.  The company operates worldwide registry gateways for other top ccTLDs; offers Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) in 15 languages and provides comprehensive, managed DNS and full-scale registry services on five continents.  Neustar will not be responsible for defining registry policy or for managing the marketing or promotion of the .CO top-level domain. 

Based on newly liberalized policies, established in consultation with the local Internet community, the new second level .CO domain space will be marketed as an “open-ccTLD” or “quasi- gtld”, and will be made available to registrants around the world to signal a globally relevant business, commercial and/or other interest or presence.  .CO in the second level offers a truly global, recognizable and credible domain name for individuals and organizations to build their businesses and brands.

Third level domains will continue to be marketed to signal a locally relevant business, commercial and/or other interest or presence. To date, there are approximately 27,000 .CO domains registered in the third level (.COM.CO, .NET.CO, and .ORG.CO). The trusted and recognized third level .CO domains will now enjoy  newly liberalized registration requirements; broad, global distribution; far lower pricing; and a host of product and service enhancements.

.CO absolutely cannot and will not be marketed as a typo to .COM. In fact, .CO should be marketed as exactly the opposite – as the most exciting TLD launch and the domain name extension that provides exciting new online branding opportunities with a truly global, recognizable and credible domain name extension.

Of course we recognize that you may get questions from prospective registrants around this issue. In this case it is acceptable to educate them that this type of speculation may exist, provided that the core message around .CO being a thriving namespace is the primary point.

Due to limitations imposed by governing policy, there can only be ten .CO Accredited Registrars during the registry's first year of operation as a globally available domain, including eight international and two local registrars based in Colombia. These ten core partners have been identified and are referred to as .CO Core Accredited Registrars.

Even if you are not one of the identified .CO Core Accredited Registrars, you can still actively participate in the launch of .CO simply by becoming a reseller of one of the core partners. 

Each participating .CO Core Accredited Registrar is contractually obligated to follow international best practices to protect and enhance the integrity and value of the .CO name space – and to support and actively promote its reseller channel to provide for and incentivize broad opportunities for participation.

The .CO Core Accredited Registrars for the first year are:
(in alphabetical order)

After the first year of operations, .CO Internet will begin to open the space progressively to additional registrars that meet the accreditation criteria, in accordance with evolving governing policies.

Each .CO Core Accredited Registrar has its own policies for working with resellers.

We encourage you to reach out to the listed Core Accredited Registrars to discuss and negotiate the best fit to suit the needs of your business and your customers.    

As the Administrator of the .CO top-level domain, we both recognize and embrace our responsibility to serve as a trustee for the .CO name space – a unique digital resource with broad, global appeal.  We are committed to managing both the .CO registry, and the domain name system that underpins it, as a steward of both the local and the global Internet communities.

The .CO registry has been built on a long and proven track record of technological excellence, operational performance, product innovation and world-class customer service. Through our technology partner, Neustar, our registry platform has been in operation since 2001 – seamlessly powering the resolution of over 4 million domain names around the world. 

Beyond technology, we have and will continue to implement best practice policies and procedures to protect the IP rights of registrants; and are putting cutting edge security measures in place to ensure that the .CO extension is the premier platform of choice for secure Internet commerce and 21st century innovation. 

We have retained world-leading marketing, PR and communications strategists to help promote the .CO brand worldwide. Through targeted marketing initiatives, .CO Internet is committed to working closely with Resellers to help you generate awareness, educate consumers, and convert more prospects to sales in your target markets.

The .CO registry is built on a globally distributed, state-of-the-art platform with the highest standards of stability, security and performance to seamlessly power the resolution of domain names in every corner of the world. Our global network includes 14 existing global nodes, located across five continents, providing exceptional levels of redundancy and reliability.  Our technical infrastructure is specifically designed to handle high transaction volumes, to ensure for maximum uptime, and to protect registrants against malicious attacks and security threats. 

Spanish IDNs are permitted (include characters: á, é, í, ó, ú, ñ, ü).  Over time we expect to add other IDNs.

As a ccTLD, the .CO Registry is not bound by ICANN policies, nor does it currently have in place any accountability frameworks or exchange of letters defining any specific accountabilities.   This said, we have great respect for the ICANN global consensus process and have implemented many ICANN- supported best practices on policy and procedural matters in developing the .CO registry.

We have recently become a member of ICANN’s ccNSO, which is an independent process that entails developing policies that are binding for ccNSO members within the limits of national law.  We will continue to reference and consider ICANN supported policies and watch with interest the evolution of policies and practices on topics like the URS, DNSSEC, etc. as we define and refine our registry policies.

The .CO registry is deeply committed to ensuring the safety, security and integrity of the .CO name space and will continue to monitor and implement best practices promoted by ICANN and other industry leaders as we move forward.

.CO Internet is following established best practices in trademark and IP protection to ensure that the domain is launched and managed in an equitable and sustainable way.  Our intention is to make the .CO domain name an asset to trademark holders and a tremendous opportunity for companies, entrepreneurs and individuals globally. 

We will begin with a structured sunrise and implement a number of important rights protection mechanisms to ensure for the fair and orderly distribution of domains.  Our policies have been designed with the guidance and counsel of ICANN’s Intellectual Property Constituency in mind; along with the lessons learned from previous domain launches and consultations with a variety of global domain registries.

Among other things, our rights protection initiatives include the following:

Carefully-Structured Sunrise Process. Sunrise is the period in which owners of registered trademarks are given the chance to register matching domains before the general public. 

Trademark Validations. Through our partner Deloitte, we have set up a process for checking the eligibility of the legal rights claimed as the basis of each Sunrise application through official international trademark registration databases and submitted documentary evidence. 

Accredited Registrars.  There are only ten accredited registrars authorized to sell .CO domain names directly or through their reseller networks around the world.  They were selected based on stringent criteria and their commitment to developing the domain.

Reservation of Premium Names. The .CO registry will hold back certain generic words and phrases from Sunrise to be allocated via auctions or other defined allocation processes.

Domain Auctions for Multi-Applications. Instead of a first-come-first-served system, qualified applicants for the same domain name during Sunrise will be able to bid for the name by participating in a fair, online auction. 

Uniform Dispute Resolution Process. We have contracted with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to oversee the arbitration and mediation of domain name disputes that may arise in the future.

Reliable WhoIs Data. .CO domain owners will not be able to shield their name from the public WhoIS database by using proxy services to protect their anonymity.  In addition, registrants are required to keep WhoIs data updated and accurate at all times.

Trademark Registration Cutoff Dates. – Trademarks must have been registered by July 30, 2008 to be eligible under the .CO sunrise.

Rapid Takedown Process.  We have a process in place to rapidly take down any website in cases where phishing, pharming, malware, or other significant security threats have been identified.  We are also putting in place policies to quickly suspend domains in instances where serial cyber-squatting can be established.

As a result of newly liberalized laws in Colombia, the .CO domain name will enjoy liberal registration policies following standard gTLD best practices.  The policies and business rules for both the second and third level .CO domain will be nearly identical.

• Anyone in the world can register names in the .CO domain (for both the second and third levels);
• No domicile or burdensome documentation requirements;
• Minimum registration of 1 year & a maximum of 5 years;
• Registrants will be able to easily transfer domain names to others.

Going forward, anyone in the world can register .CO domain names for both the second (example.co) and third (example.com.co) levels, with liberal registration and documentation requirements.  There is one notable exception to this rule, in that certain restricted third level domains will be marketed and made available only to local, Colombian registrants, including: .ORG.CO, .EDU.CO, .MIL.CO and .GOB.CO.

.CO Internet has established business policies and procedures in accordance with international best practices. Our technology partner is Neustar, Inc., a leading provider of global registry and managed DNS services for top-level domains. Therefore, you can expect our business rules to be similar to other Neustar-managed TLDs such as .biz. 

The specific scheduled dates, subject to change, are as follows:

February 6-7: Transition of existing .CO domains to .CO Internet S.A.S

March 1 - March 30: Grandfathering Phase

April 1 – April 20: Local Sunrise A for trademarks registered in Colombia

April 26 – June 10: Global Sunrise B for trademarks registered globally

June 21 – July 13: Landrush for premium domains

July 20 – General Availability

From February 7th onward (i.e., once the transition from the University of the Andes is complete), .CO Internet will be the registrar of record for the approximately 27,000 existing third level unrestricted .CO domains until their expiration date (e.g., .com.co, .net.co). Customer support provided by .CO Internet will be available for those registrants. New registrations for third-level domains must be processed by Accredited Registrars. .CO Internet S.A.S. will not be processing renewals.

Prior to the expiration date, the domain name owner must transfer their third-level domain to one of the .CO Core Accredited Registrars. These registrars will be prominently listed in emails sent to registrants and on our website. Individuals who registered their domains prior to July 30, 2008, will be eligible for grandfathering, meaning that they can opt to secure their domain name in the second level.

Participating Core Accredited Registrars will be prominently listed in emails sent to registrants and on our local website, www.cointernet.com.co. 

No, not all .CO Accredited Registrars have incorporated third level .CO domains as part of their product and service offering.  Resellers may wish to consider this factor when deciding upon a Registrar partner.

Individuals who registered their domains prior to July 30, 2008 will be eligible for grandfathering; meaning that they can opt to secure their exact match domain name in the second level starting on March 1 and ending on March 30, 2010.  Grandfathering is designed to allow existing third level domain registrants the opportunity to register their domain name in the second level space prior to any other registrant.

To be eligible for grandfathering, the following rules apply:

• Must be a current third level domain registrant
• The third level domain must have been registered and active prior to July 30th, 2008
• Only non-restricted (com.co, net.co, nom.co) domains may be grandfathered
• Restricted domains (gov.co, mil.co, org.co and edu.co) will be added to the second level reserved names list

Grandfathering will be accomplished by using the existing domain transfer process.

• .CO Internet will identify all eligible third level domain holders and will load the domain with auth codes into the SRS with a 1-year registration
• .CO Internet will provide existing registrants (from UniAndes) with grandfathering instructions, which will include instructions for using the auth codes for transferring the domains to one of the participating Core Accredited Registrars
• Transfers of the domains will incur a two year add (renewal).
• The fee will be effective throughout the grandfathering period and only applies to second level domain transfers
• Transfers after the initial transfer will not be allowed for 60 days
• These transfers will auto-approve after five days, however Neustar will periodically ask transfers in advance of the five day auto-approval
• At the conclusion of the Grandfathering phase, .CO Internet will delete all domains in the SRS that did NOT grandfather (transfer), making them available during Sunrise, Landrush, or General Availability.

During the Grandfathering phase, .CO Internet will review all matching applications and award the second level domain to the application with the oldest domain registration date.  (E.g. if Colombia.gov.co was registered prior to Colombia.com.co, the .gov.co application will be awarded the second level .CO domain name.)

The Sunrise phase is divided into Local Sunrise A and Global Sunrise B.  In the A phase (April 1-20, 2010); only holders of Colombian trademarks may apply and during the B phase (April 26-June 10, 2010), any trademark holder may apply, including Colombian trademark holders; however there will be no preference given to Colombian trademark holders during the B phase.  There will be a short quiet period between the two phases, at the end of the phase and prior to Landrush to allow the Validating Agent (Deloitte) to finish validating any remaining applications and for the .CO registry to complete any necessary administrative and clean-up activities. 

The sunrise process involves 5 stages, which includes an optional pre-validation process that allows applicants or their agents to interact directly with the validation provider (Deloitte) to validate and ensure applications are accurate and complete prior to submitting them to the .CO registry. 

Both ascii and Spanish language IDNs may be applied for during sunrise.

The following are the five stages of sunrise:

• Pre-Validation (optional)
• Submission
• Validation
• Auction
• Award/Injection

Applications will not be granted on a first-come first-served basis, but rather will be collected through the final date of Global Sunrise.  In the event that there is more than one entity applying for the same domain name, with each of them have corresponding trademarks, the name will go to auction.

From a technical perspective, the .CO Sunrise will be run in a similar fashion to recent TLD launches (including .TEL and .Asia), in which a few extra fields* with trademark data are recorded by the Registrar from the applicant. The data is then transmitted to the Registry via EPP so the validation can take place.  The validation agent will be Deloitte.

* There will be 5 additional fields that need to be collected and sent via EPP.  The fields are:

• Trademark Name
• Trademark Registration Date
• Trademark Registration Number
• Trademark Country
• Applicant Capacity

Once the validation is complete, the Registry will communicate back with an Auth Code in order to perform the actual registration. Full details will be included in the .CO Sunrise Guide.

Trademark holders within valid jurisdictions can apply for exact match domain names during the Sunrise Period. Trademark applications will be validated by Deloitte. Applications will not be granted on a first-come first-served basis, but rather will be collected through the final date of Global Sunrise.  In the event that there is more than one entity applying for the same domain name, with each of them have corresponding trademarks, the name will go to auction.

Eligibility to participate in the Global Sunrise will be limited to holders of trademarks that:

1.    Were registered and were in full force and effect on or before July 30, 2008;
2.    Are registered in a trademark office or registry that corresponds to a state or entity described in the WIPO Standard ST.3 code; and
3.    Fully comply with any and all other specified terms and conditions in the .CO Sunrise Policy.

Sunrise, applicants will be required to submit certain data to demonstrate that they qualify in relation to the right(s) related to the domain name applied for. The data required will include:

• Registered Mark: Exact word or phrase described by the Registered Mark
• Registration Number: Registration or serial number of the Registered Mark’s current registration.
• Registration Locality: Location (country/region) where the right is established (using the corresponding WIPO Standard code);
• Capacity: Whether the Applicant holds the trademark as the original “owner” or as an “assignee”.

Deloitte, as the independent Validation/Verification Agent, will verify every application. This important additional step in the assignment procedure will make sure that only rightful owners will receive a .CO domain.

Landrush will begin in June and conclude in July, 2010. Anyone can apply for a domain name during this time. Single applications will be awarded at the end of the Landrush period and matching applications will be resolved at auction.

General Availability is the final phase of the Launch Plan. It’s open to the general public and effectively commences general availability of second level domains on a first come, first served basis.

.CO Internet has established business policies and procedures around reserved lists and premium names in accordance with international best practices. There will be a Restricted Domain List, a Reserved Domain List and Premium Domain List.   The Restricted Domain List generally consists of names stipulated by the Colombian Government and will not be available for registration. The Reserved Domain List generally consists of names reserved by the .CO registry for promotional or other strategic purposes and will not be available for registration. The Premium Domain List generally consists of names reserved by the .CO registry that will be offered to the public via auction or premium fixed price. It has not yet been determined whether and to what extent the Reserved and Premium Domain Lists will be published by the .CO registry.

Our auction partner will be disclosed along with Sunrise Guide in mid-February 2010. It will be a well-respected partner with ample experience working with the world’s leading registrars.

Details about auction commissions will be published along with the Sunrise Guide in mid-February. To inspire broad participation, commissions will be paid to registrars that helped to generate the sale.  Even if a bid was unsuccessful, the registrar that brings active bidders to the auction will be rewarded through commission. 

July 30th, 2008 was the day that the Colombian government established the new, liberalized policies for the .CO domain that are currently being implemented by .CO Internet.  Among other things, these new policies open the .CO name space to registrants around the world, and also open the domain to registrations of .CO in the second level.  

To be eligible for Grandfathering third level domains to second level domains; and/or to be eligible to claim intellectual property rights during the Sunrise, an applicant must have had owned the claimed third level domain and/or trademark right prior to July 30, 2008.

No. Pursuant to ICANN’s Guidebook and best practices in domain registry management, we will not allow or facilitate wildcarding within the .CO registry.

Prior to making the decision to provide the .CO ccTLD to the global community as an “open-ccTLD,” the Republic of Colombia has carefully reviewed, considered and debated the question for more than ten years.  As part of a long and thorough review process, the Minister of Information Technology and Communications conducted a stringent public procurement to ensure that the selected registry would protect the value of the domain and market it according to newly liberalized .CO policies.

The initial concession contract to .CO Internet will last for 10 years, expiring in 2020, with a mutual option to renew. All policy matters relating to the administration of the .CO domain will be overseen by an Advisory Committee comprised of international, government and business leaders who are committed to ensuring the security and stability of the .CO domain for both the local and global Internet community.

No, the registry will not charge for bulk transfers to newly accredited registrars.

.CO Internet will implement ICANN’s Add Grace Period (AGP) Limits Policy that was initiated within the gTLD name space in March 2009.    The policy states that there will be no refund for domain names deleted during the AGP that exceed 10% of the Registrar’s net new registrations or 50 domain names, whichever is greater; unless an exemption has been granted.  For more information on the AGP Limits Policy, you may view the ICANN website at http://www.icann.org/en/tlds/agp-policy-17dec08-en.htm.