May First has historically encouraged members to register and manage their own domain names through 3rd party services.
Our Politics
While this approach can require more effort from members, it reflects a commitment to digital self-determination. Control of their own domain name gives an organization ultimate authority over its online identity and the freedom to move services between providers. By ensuring members retain direct ownership of their domains, May First seeks to reduce dependency on hosting providers and promote a best practice that protects long-term autonomy and control.
A Practical Decision
Becoming an accredited domain registrar appears to be prohibitively expensive and time-consuming. Beyond accreditation fees, registrars must maintain insurance, data escrow services, compliance programs, legal oversight, abuse handling procedures, technical integrations with registries, and ongoing reporting obligations. These requirements create recurring financial, administrative, legal and technical burdens that might consume a significant portion of our small cooperative's resources. So far, we have decided that those resources are better devoted to serving members in other ways rather than operating a highly regulated domain registration operation.
Future Possibilities
We may revisit this policy in the future as circumstances change. We may also explore offering domain registration services as a reseller if doing so can provide convenience to members while preserving their ownership and control of their domains.