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My Name, My Language, My Internet: IDN Test Goes Live

ICANN launches global test of Internationalized Domain Names

15 October 2007


<http://www.icann.org/announcements/photos/idn-tshirts-600x430-15oct07.jpg>

ICANN is celebrating the ability of people to get "My name, My Language. 
My Internet" wiki pages with the launch of the IDN evaluation with 
T-Shirts displaying example.test in the 11 languages.

*MARINA DEL REY, Calif.*: Internet users around the globe can now 
experiment with their name in their language on their Internet with 
today's launch of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and 
Numbers live testing of Internationalized Domain Names in 11 languages.

"This is one of the most exciting times yet in the development of IDNs," 
said Dr Paul Twomey, ICANN's President and CEO. "Internet users who 
speak the 11 languages of the test can play a key role in testing how 
IDNs operate, and help us move toward full implementation for all the 
languages of the world."

Internet users around the globe can now to access wiki pages with the 
domain name example.test in the 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 
-- one suggestion is: example.test/yourname.

ICANN has also put a video explaining the evaluation process on YouTube, 
and available on the ICANN website.

The wiki pages can be accessed by typing example.test in the characters 
of one of the 11 languages, or by going to http://idn.icann.org 
<http://idn.icann.org/>.

"These wikipages are key to the test. We want to know how the URL 
displays in the Internet browser, if it works when you cut and paste it 
into the body of an email to a friend, and how all of this impacts the 
root zone," Dr Twomey added.

The 11 evaluation wikis will remain online until IDNs are fully 
implemented and the first top-level domain is introduced in the 
evaluation language.

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.


The "example.test" labels with the associated scripts, the languages 
that were used for translation of the two terms "example" and "test", 
and the A-labels for second and top level that are inserted in the IDN 
TLD zones and DNS respectively.

IDNs Part 2: example.test Evaluation Period (3:05) | also available at 
dotSUB <http://dotsub.com/films/idnspart_1/>

IDNs Part One: An Introduction (4:22) | also available at dotSUB 
<http://dotsub.com/films/idnspart/index.php>

* 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:%20jason.keenan at icann.org>

International: Andrew Robertson
Edelman (London)
Ph: +44 7921 588 770
E: andrew.robertson at edelman.com <mailto:%20andrew.robertson at edelman.com>

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