ICANN is pleased to announce the successful completion of String Evaluation on proposed IDN ccTLD string for Sudan.

Details of the successful evaluation are provided here: http://www.icann.org/en/resources/idn/fast-track/string-evaluation-completion/s

The IDN (Internationalized Domain Name) ccTLD Fast Track Process was approved by the ICANN Board at its annual meeting in Seoul, South Korea on 30 October 2009. First requests were received starting 16 November 2009. The process enables countries and territories to submit requests to ICANN for IDN ccTLDs, representing their respective country or territory names in scripts other than Latin. IDN ccTLD requesters must fulfill a number of requirements:

• the script used to represent the IDN ccTLDs must be non-Latin;
• the languages used to express the IDN ccTLDs must be official in the corresponding country or territory; and
• a specific set of technical requirements must be met (as evaluated by an external DNS Stability Panel comprised of DNS and IDN experts).

National Business Daily reported:  18 domain names registered by Internet giant which included

adsense.中国、adwords.中国、android.中国、blogspot.中国、chrome.中国、chromium.中国、 doubleclick.中国、gmail.中国、google.中国、googlemail.中国、googlemaps.中国、 googleplus.中国、igoogle.中国、nexus.中国、orkut.中国、picasa.中国、postini.中国、youtube. 中国

.中国 is the Chinese IDN ccTLD.

The well-known IT commentator Cao Yueping says 18 domain registrations is a signal that China is still remains as a key market for Google. China Mobile Internet Industry Alliance Secretary-General Lee Yi says that is just a protective registration. However Google declined to comment.

The .eu registry EURid and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) will present on 6 November a report on the global uptake of Internationalised Domain Names (IDNs).

The study is planned to go out at the 7th Internet Governance Forum (IGF) meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan and it will present updates to the report published in 2011 on the global use of Internationalised domain names which support non-Latin scripts and multilingualism online.

IDNs* have become strongly linked with Internet governance discussions on multilingualism. Of approximately 6 000 languages in the world, only 12 languages accounted for 98% of Internet web pages in 2008, while, according to UNESCO data, English was the dominant language online with 72% of web pages.

According to last year’s joint report, the introduction of IDNs in the Internet root domain was an important milestone in the development of multilingualism on the Internet, especially for non-Latin scripts, including Arabic and Cyrillic.

In addition, the study concluded that IDNs were only one factor in achieving a multilingual Internet, but there was what more to be done to achieve this aim, including securing basic Internet access for the majority of the world’s population, as well as strengthening the environment for creating local language content.

Furthermore, the links between IDN registrations and local languages were classified as ‘strong’, as for example the intensity of .eu IDN registrations in Greece (Greek script) and Bulgaria (Cyrillic script).

Last but not least, it was suggested that implementation of key services like email would further benefit uptake, making IDNs fully useable.

On the other hand, keeping in mind that by 2016 around 50% of the world population is expected to be also internet users, the threats associated with growth of domain names increase. Among the most common threats associated with growth of domain names include phishing, counterfeiting and digital piracy.

Interest towards domain names is definitely growing with every single year. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) for example published in June this year a list containing more than 1 900 new domain name suggestions. Out of the 1 900 new suggestions, only 166 were of non-Latin scripts.

by Stanislava Gaydazhieva

1. String [1]: ASCII or Unicode for IDN strings
2. Location [2]: Indicated by applicant as primary country of business. Two-letter country code is based on ISO 3166-1 code lists. See http://www.iso.org/iso/country_codes/iso_3166_code_lists/country_names_and_code_elements.htm
3. Community? [3]: Based on applicant’s answer to question 19
4. Geographic? [4]: Based on applicant’s answer to question 21

RESTON, VA — (Marketwire) — 06/13/12 — VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN), the trusted provider of Internet infrastructure services for the networked world, today announced that the Company applied for nine Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) transliterations of .com and three IDN transliterations of .net. These applications represent 12 of the 14 new generic Top Level Domain (gTLD) applications that Verisign submitted through the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) new gTLD program.

“Verisign welcomes the opportunity to participate in the global market growth for domain names and registry services that ICANN’s new gTLD program will bring. We believe our experience will serve businesses and consumers who demand greater performance and reliability from Internet infrastructure,” said Jim Bidzos, chairman and chief executive officer of Verisign.

Verisign applied for IDN transliterations of .com in the following nine non-Latin based scripts: Arabic, Cyrillic, Devanagari (Indian), Hangul (Korean), Hebrew, Hiragana and Katakana (Japanese), Simplified Chinese, Thai and Traditional Chinese. Verisign also applied for IDN transliterations of .net in Devanagari, Hangul and Simplified Chinese scripts.

“Internationalized Domain Names will make the Internet more personal to end users around the world by allowing them to identify themselves using their native language scripts,” said Pat Kane, senior vice president and general manager of Naming Services at Verisign. “These non-Latin-based transliterations of .com and .net should provide new opportunities and more choices for global Internet users.”

In addition to the 12 IDN transliterations of .com and .net, Verisign applied for .verisign and .comsec.

Finally, as previously announced, applicants for approximately 220 new gTLDs selected Verisign to provide back-end registry services.

About Verisign
VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN) is the trusted provider of Internet infrastructure services for the networked world. Billions of times each day, Verisign helps companies and consumers all over the world connect between the dots. Additional news and information about the company is available at www.VerisignInc.com.

The Registry Submits Applications to ICANN for Four Top-Level Internationalized Domain Names

RESTON, Va., May 31, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ — Public Interest Registry( http://www.pir.org ) (PIR) – the not-for-profit operator of the .ORG domain – today applied for the creation and management of four internationalized domain names (IDNs) recognized as .ORG in non-Latin-based scripts. As part of its application to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), PIR submitted for the generic top-level domains (gTLDs) that translate “organization,” “org” or “structured organization” into Devanagari, Cyrillic and Chinese-simplified scripts. The four applications- one in Devanagari, one in Cyrillic, and two in simplified Chinese- were filed as part of ICANN’s global Internet expansion initiative which will go into effect as early as 2013.

“With each IDN launch, the Internet takes a big step toward becoming a truly global entity,” said Brian Cute, CEO of Public Interest Registry. “These specific IDNs help ensure the Internet’s accessibility and availability to millions of individuals worldwide – especially those who do not speak Latin-based languages like English, French, German and Spanish, and who were previously offline or only use the Internet in a limited way.”

PIR took the first step in supporting non-English languages in 2005 through the introduction of IDNs at the second level – IDNs where the name (left of the dot) is in a non-English language and the gTLD (right of the dot) remains in English. While these second-level IDNs proved useful in countries such as Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Iceland, Poland and Korea (among others), they do not directly address communities who use languages such as Arabic or Chinese that are either character-driven or read right to left. These four new IDNs will provide a holistic, in-language domain name for native speakers of Devanagari, Cyrillic and Chinese, resulting in a consistent end-user experience and overall adoption of IDNs.

“Conservative estimates show that at least 20 percent of the world’s population speaks in a language derived from these scripts,” added Mr. Cute. “The Chinese IDN, for example, will make the Internet more user-friendly by enabling relevant Internet users to write a domain name or URL exactly the way it is supposed to be written in its native language – without substitution or translation.”

In addition to applying for the four IDNs, PIR also submitted an application for the creation and management of the .NGO and .ONG domain names. Since its inception in 2002, PIR has served the interests of not-for-profit and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) online. The registry plans to expand its position as an advocate for these communities by providing an exclusive domain extension for NGOs looking for immediate recognition online and broader opportunities for public engagement, funding and partnerships.

ICANN plans to announce all TLD applicants in June and will review all applications during a “batching process” in the months ahead. For more information on PIR, please visit www.pir.org.

About Public Interest Registry Public Interest Registry (PIR) is a nonprofit corporation that operates the .ORG top-level domain — the world’s third largest “generic” top-level domain with more than 9.9 million domain names registered worldwide. As an advocate for collaboration, safety and security on the Internet, PIR’s mission is to empower the global noncommercial community to use the Internet more effectively, and to take a leadership position among Internet stakeholders on policy and other issues relating to the domain naming system. Public Interest Registry was founded by the Internet Society in 2002 and is based in Reston, Virginia, USA.

SOURCE　Public Interest Registry

Muscat, Oman – 1st May 2012 – The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) of the Sultanate of Oman, with the support of ARI Registry Services, officially relaunched the .om country code Top-Level Domain (ccTLD) today in a move to ensure the ongoing stability and growth of the Internet within the country and greater Gulf region.

ARI Registry Services was selected by the TRA in March 2011 to provide domain name registry software and supporting services to revitalise the .om ccTLD.

The project will also include the launch of عمان. (.oman), the Arabic script IDN ccTLD for Oman.

Mohammed Al Kindy, Senior Manager Technical Affairs for the Oman TRA, said the project was important to the ongoing development of the Internet in Oman.

“The relaunch of .om and launch of عمان. (.oman) will provide Internet users in Oman with a stable and reliable piece of infrastructure that is based on best practice domain name registry operation. This will provide an opportunity to expand the reach of the Internet in Oman and reinforce its importance as a national asset.

“We thank ARI Registry Services for their support on this project,” Mr Al Kindy said.

Adrian Kinderis, CEO of ARI Registry Services, congratulated the TRA on the relaunch.

“This project represents a significant advancement of the Internet within Oman and reinforces the Government’s commitment to provide the best possible Internet experience to its people. We congratulate the TRA for their foresight and dedication to developing the Internet in their region,” Mr Kinderis said.

“The introduction of عمان. (.oman) will position Oman as one of only a few Arabic speaking countries with the capability to allow its citizens to navigate the web in their native language. This is something Oman should be proud of.

“This has been a tremendous project for the team at ARI to be involved in. We have completely customised our solution to address the needs of the TRA and assist them in the revitalisation of a national asset. Our work has included the development of customised registry software to handle the various policy and business requirements that are specific to the region, the purchase and configuration of hardware along with the deployment of staff to implement our licensed product and educate the TRA on its management,” Mr Kinderis said.

With the new infrastructure the TRA has acquired, Oman will be open to more registrars and this will help further develop the .om and عمان. (.oman) namespaces.

DNJournal recorded the Largest IDN deal for Москва.com (“Moscow” in Russian) which was completed in July 2011 when the final installment on a $216,000 purchase price was paid. That is the highest verified sale price reported to date for an IDN. The deal was originally subject to a  confidentiality agreement but Gary Males at IDNTools.com was able to persuade the seller and buyer Moshe Schneider to release details of the transaction, including the documentation we required to verify the price paid. Noted domain attorney John Berryhill was retained to handle the transaction and ensure that all terms of the sale contract were met.