IDNs are domain names that contain at least one non-ASCII character – for example, a character with diacritics like é, ü, ñ, or a Chinese character like 飛. Registering IDNs is already possible in many country code Top Level Domains (ccTLDs) such as Belgium (.BE), Brazil (.BR), China (.CN), Hong Kong (.HK), France (.FR), Germany (.DE), Greece (.GR), Hungary (.HU), Spain (.ES) and Tuvalu (.TV), and in most generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs). So for EURid and ICANN, IDNs promote a “multi lingual Internet” as they enable people to register and use domain names in local languages and scripts. Under the .EU domain name extension it is already possible to register IDNs that contain characters from any official EU language script; for example, the Swedish å, the German ü, the Romanian ș and characters from the Bulgarian (Cyrillic) and Greek alphabets.
The idea of Universal Acceptance is a key component in supporting the use of IDNs because it aims to ensure that all domain names and email addresses “regardless of script, language, or character length” are accepted equally by all “Internet-enabled applications, devices, and systems”. In addition, UA encompasses supporting all IDN country code top-level domains (ccTLDs), as well as new IDN generic top-level domains (gTLDs).
ICANN President and CEO, Göran Marby, stated that: “supporting IDNs and Universal Acceptance is a priority for ICANN, and an important step toward an inclusive and multi-lingual Internet” and that “cooperation with global organizations like EURid is critical to making the Internet more accessible and viable not only for users across Europe but around the world.”
EURid’s General Manager, Peter Janssen, also asserted that:
“EURid’s vision, as registry operator of .eu, .ею (Cyrillic script) and .ευ (Greek script), is to ensure a trustworthy .EU environment and to enable online multilingualism. Enabling Internet users to use domain names and email addresses in local languages and scripts used globally is a key element. This Memorandum of Understanding further strengthens our collaboration with ICANN and we look forward to jointly improve the Universal Acceptance of IDNs”.
It is only natural that increased diversity and inclusiveness should be reflected on the Internet and across the global domain name ecosystem. It is to be hoped that this openness towards local languages and scripts is replicated in other ccTLDs across the globe.
Authored by Anchovy News team.
