Non-Latin Web Addresses Coming Soon

[Michael Kann]

>From the NY Times online this morning:

SEOUL — By the middle of next year, Internet surfers will be allowed to use Web addresses written completely in Chinese, Arabic, Korean and other non-Latin alphabets, the organization overseeing Internet domain names announced on Friday in a decision that could make the Web more accessible.

In a move billed as one of the biggest changes in the Web’s four-decade history, the board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers — or ICANN — voted Friday to allow such scripts in Internet addresses during its annual meeting, held in Seoul.

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This change only affects domain names — anything that comes after the dot, such as .com, .cn or .jp. Until now, they could only be in 37 characters — 26 Latin letters, 10 digits or a dash. But starting next year, domain names can be the characters of any language.

The decision, reached after years of testing and debate, clears the way for ICANN to begin accepting applications for non-Latin domain names on Nov. 16. People will start seeing them in use around mid-2010, particularly in Arabic, Chinese and other scripts in which demand for the new “internationalized” domain name system has been among the highest, ICANN officials say.

Initially, the new naming system will only affect Web addresses with “country codes,” the designators at the end of an address name, such as .kr (for Korea) or .ru (for Russia). But eventually, it will be expanded to all types of Internet address names, ICANN said.

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Full article here: 

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/31/technology/31net.html?_r=1&hp

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Michael Kann