Use Of Non-Latin Characters In Domain Names To Be Reviewed In November

Foreign Lingo

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers,ICANN, overseas a number of Internet related tasks. ICANN met in Paris last monthe. There were a fews interesting things that came out of this meeting.

You can read more about the results of their recent meeting from Ars Technica, here:

• ICANN opens up Pandora’s Box of new TLDs

There are a few reasons why I have been following the issue of non-latin character domain names.

• My Foreign Lingo articles on submitting your website to foreign search engines are always popular.
• Lately I have received a flurry of emails on Russian search engine submissions and also on how to set your computer to read foreign languages.

So, naturally I have been following the question of whether countries like China and Russia will be able to use their own non-Latin character script online. This is understandably something they are pushing very hard.

During their meeting this week, ICANN discussed the question of allowing the Top Level Domain URL’s to use non-Latin characters. There is no final decision yet. ICANN says it will submit this question for public comment and will meet again in November to discuss it further.

If you would like to know what a Top Level Domain is, this article will give you an easy explanation:

• How To Organize Country Specific Content On Your Website

Read more Foreign Lingo articles:
- Special Notice - Foreign Lingo
- How To Set Your Computer To Read Foreign Languages