[kictanet] On Its Way: One of the Biggest Changes to the Internet] Internet users have key role in testing the operation of example.test in 11 languages

[alice]

On Its Way: One of the Biggest Changes to the Internet

Internet users have key role in testing the operation of example.test in 
11 languages

9 October 2007

* MARINA DEL REY, Calif.*: The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names 
and Numbers will launch an evaluation of Internationalized Domain Names 
next week that will allow Internet users to test top-level domains in 11 
languages.

"This evaluation represents ICANN's most important step so far towards 
the full implementation of Internationalized Domain Names. This will be 
one of the biggest changes to the Internet since it was created," said 
Dr Paul Twomey, ICANN's President and CEO. "ICANN needs the assistance 
of users and application developers to make this evaluation a success. 
When the evaluation pages come online next week, we need everyone to get 
in there and see how the addresses display and see how links to IDNs 
work in their programs. In short, we need them to get in and push it to 
its limits."

The evaluation is made possible by today's insertion into the root of 
the 11 versions of .test, which means they are alongside other top-level 
domains like .net, .com, .info, .uk, and .de at the core of the Internet.

Next Monday, 15 October 2007, Internet users around the globe will be 
able to access wiki pages with the domain name example.test in 11 test 
languages — Arabic, Persian, Chinese (simplified and traditional), 
Russian, Hindi, Greek, Korean, Yiddish, Japanese and Tamil.

The wikis will allow Internet users to establish their own subpages with 
their own names in their own language. The evaluation is being done in 
the 11 languages of the Internet communities that have shown the most 
interest in moving IDNs from concept to reality.

The full introduction of IDNs will mean that people can write the whole 
of a domain name in the characters used to write their own language. 
Presently you can only use these characters before the dot, so .com, 
.net, .org and the like can only be written in characters from basic 
Latin. IDNs will change this so that literally tens of thousands of 
characters will be available to the world.

"Right now only the ASCII characters a through z are available for use 
in top level labels — the part of the address after the dot," Dr Twomey 
added. "Users will be able to have their name in their language for 
their Internet when full IDN implementation makes available tens of 
thousands of characters from the languages of world."

More information on the IDN program is available at: 
http://icann.org/topics/idn/ <http://www.icann.org/topics/idn/>

Links to the wikis will be available on ICANN's website starting 15 
October 2007.

* About ICANN: *

ICANN is responsible for the global coordination of the Internet's 
system of unique identifiers like domain names (like .org, .museum and 
country codes like .uk) and the addresses used in a variety of Internet 
protocols that help computers reach each other over the Internet. 
Careful management of these resources is vital to the Internet's 
operation, so ICANN's global stakeholders meet regularly to develop 
policies that ensure the Internet's ongoing security and stability. 
ICANN is an internationally organized, public benefit non-profit 
company. For more information please visit: www.icann.org 
<http://www.icann.org/>.

*Media Contacts: *

Jason Keenan
Media Adviser, ICANN (USA)
Ph: +1 310 382 4004
E: jason.keenan at icann.org <mailto:jason.keenan at icann.org>

International: Andrew Robertson
Edelman (London)
Ph: +44 7921 588 770
E: andrew.robertson at edelman.com <mailto:andrew.robertson at edelman.com>

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