IDN, or Internalized Domain Name is a relative new addition by ICANN.

It allows foreign language domains – such as Chinese, Janpanese, Spanish, Hebrew, etc.

For example, McDonalds.com translated to Chinese would be 麥當勞.com

So in foreign countries such as China computer users would simply type in 麥當勞.com in their browsers.  It is the browser’s job to translate the non-ASCII domain name to its ASCII equivalent (ie. 麥當勞.com to xn--qhrx81fxh2a.com).

Note: IE and Firefox currently supports IDN. Not all browsers support IDN domain names. But more browsers are aware and are beginning to support this now.

We have started recommending our clients to also register their English evalent IDN domain name for various reasons.

Trademark/Brand protection

You want to protect your brand/trademark not only in English, but also in other popular foreign languages, such as Chinese and Spanish, especially if your company does business internationally.

So when is it a good time to register your IDN? Right now would be good. Think about it – when your company name (or your own name perhaps) become more well-known there will be cybersquatters who would take the opportunity to register your name in IDN. Then you would need to write a Cease & Desist letter to the person and attempt to get it back.

Here is an interesting domain name lawsuit case for dispute of Target.org:

Target Brands, Inc. v. Eastwind Group, NAF Forum File No. 0405000267475 (July 9, 2004).

“The Panel determines that “target” is a generic term and a common word. Complainant does not have monopoly over any domain name with the word “target” in it. The Panel finds that Respondent has rights to and legitimate interests in a domain name that consists of a generic or common term. … Additionally, where a domain name is generic, the first person to register it in good faith is entitled to the domain name and this is considered a ‘legitimate interest.’”

Therefore, as you can see, even if Target owns its trademark and Target.com, it is possible that someone else owns the .org version! So don’t let this happen to you.

Head over to http://WholesalerDomains.com/IDN for Spanish, Hebrew, Greek, Japanese, Chinese domain name registration. There are over 350 languagues that you can register, but we recommend you go for popular languages and countries that you do business in.

Investment purpose

Even if your company or yourself doesn’t have business internationally, it would be wise to look into IDN domain names to purchase and hold (or develop) for future value.

Good English .com domain names are being snatched up this very second by domain investors. Thousands of premium .com domain names are bought and sold every day.

Our company has recently started registering Chinese IDN’s by the mass. We are going after popular terms and phrases in English and have them translated to Chinese.

You could do the same, too. Just come up with a list of English terms and find someone to translate them into another language for you.

How to register your IDN

Let’s say you want register a Chinese domain name (and I will use Chinese a lot because it is the #1 most widely spoken language in the world).

You first need to have your company’s name translated to Chinese (can be either traditional or simplified). We do have Chinese speaking staff if you ever need translation service (ie. translate your English webpage to Chinese). Please contact us.

Then go to http://WholesalerDomains.com/IDN and type your foreign language term in the search box and choose a language and hit search.

It is important that you select the correct language you want to register your name in because you can not change the language later.

Everything else is the same as with buying an English dot com domain name.

For around $10/year it is a small price to pay to secure your company identify and a great investment.

IDN Language List

Abazin / Abaza абаза бызшва (abaza bəzšʷa)
Afar Afaraf
Abkhaz аҧсуа бызшәа (aṗsua byzšʷa)
Adyghe адыгэбзэ (adəgăbză) / адыгабзэ (adəgabză)
Afrikaans Afrikaanse taal
Ainu アイヌ イタク (aynu itak)
Akhvakh ашwалӀи мицӀи (ašwałi mic̣i)
Akkadian lišānum akkadītum, akkadū
Alabama Albaamo innaaɬiilka
Albanian gjuha shqipe
Alsatian Elsassisch Sproch / Elſaſſiſch Sproch
Altai алтай тили (altaj tili)
Amharic � ማርኛ (ămarəña)
Arabic اللغة العربية (al-luġâtu l-ʿarabīyâ)
Aragonese luenga aragonesa, aragonés
Aramaic ארמי (aramāy)
Armenian Հայերեն լեզու (hayeren lezou)
Aromanian limba aromână
Assamese অসমীয়া ভাষা (asamīyā bʰāṣā)
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic ܐܬܘܪܝܐ (ātūrayā), ܣܘܪܬ (sūret)
Asturian llingua asturiana, asturianu
Auvergnat lenga auvernhada, auvernhat
Avar авар мацӀ (awar mac̣), магӀарул мацӀ (maʿarul mac̣)
Aymara aymar aru
Azerbaijani Azərbaycan dili / Азәрбајҹан дили / آذربایجان دیلی, azərbaycanca / азәрбајҹанҹа / آذربایجانجا
Balearic balear
Balochi بلوچی زبان (baločī zubān)
Bambara bamanankan
Bashkir башҡорт теле (bašqort tele)
Basque euskara hizkuntza
Belarussian беларуская мова / biełaruskaja mova
Bengali বাংলা ভাষা (bāṁlā bʰāṣā)
Bhojpuri भोजपुरी भाषा (bʰojpurī bʰāṣā)
Blackfoot siksiká
Bodo बोडो भाषा (boḍo bʰāṣā)
Bosnian босански језик / bosanski jezik
Breton yezh brezhoneg
Buginese ᨅᨔ ᨕᨘᨁᨗ (basa ugi)
Bulgarian български език (bŭlgarski ezik)
Buriat буряад хэлэн (burjaad ĥälän)
Burmese မ္ရန္‌မာစာ (mẏãmasa)
Cantonese 廣東話 / 广东话 (gwóngdōngwá)
Capeverdian Creole kriolu kabuverdianu
Carrier ᑕᗸᒡ (dakelh)
Catalan llengua catalana, catal�
Catalan-Valencian-Balearic catal� -valenci� -balear
Cebuano binisayang Sinugboanon
Chaldean Neo-Aramaic ܟ� ܕܝܐ (kaldayā), ܣܘܪܬ (sōret)
Chamorro Chamoru
Chechen нохчийн мотт / noxçiyn mott
Cherokee tsalagi kawonihisdi / ᏣᎳᎩ ᎧᏬᏂᎯᏍᏗ
Chewa / Nyanja chiCheŵa
Cheyenne Tsétsêhéstaestse
Chinese 漢語 / 汉语 (h� nyǔ), 中文 (zhōngwén)
Choctaw chahta anumpa
Chukchi / Chukot чаучу (čauču) / чавчу (čavču)
Chuvash чӑваш чӗлхи (čăvaš čĕlĥi)
Comanche nʉmʉ tekwapʉ̱
Comorian شِقُمُرِ / shikomori
Coptic ⲙⲉⲧⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ (metenremenkhīmi) / ϯⲁⲥⲡⲓ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ (tiaspi enremenkhīmi)
Coptic – Bohairic ϯⲁⲥⲡⲓ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙϧⲏⲧ (tiaspi enremenkhīmi enremĥīt) / ϯⲁⲥⲡⲓ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙϧⲏⲧ (tiaspi enremĥīt) / ϯⲁⲥⲡⲓ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲡⲉⲙϩⲏⲧ (tiaspi enrempemhīt)
Coptic – Sahidic ϯⲁⲥⲡⲓ ⲛⲣⲉⲙⲣⲏⲥ (tiaspi nremrēs)
Cornish yeth Kernewek
Corsican lingua corsa, corsu
Cree ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐤ (nēhiyaw)
Crimean Tatar Qırımtatar tili / Къырымтатар тили
Croatian hrvatski jezik
Czech český jazyk, čeština
Danish dansk sprog
Dargwa дарган мез (dargan mez)
Dari زبان دری (zabān-e darī)
Delaware Lënape
Dinka Thuɔŋjäŋ
Divehi ދިވެހިބަސް (divehibas)
Dogri डोगरी भाषा (ḍogrī bʰāṣā)
Dungan Хуэйзў йүян (Ĥuėyzŭ yüyan), лохуэй (loĥuėy)
Dutch Nederlandse taal, Nederlands
Dzongkha / Jonkha ཇོང་ཁ (joṅ.kʰa)
English English language
Esperanto Esperanta lingvo, Esperanto
Estonian eesti keel
Even эвэды торэн (ėvėdy torėn)
Evenki орочон (oročon)
Ewe Ɛʋɛgbɛ
Faroese føroyskt mál
Fijian vosa Vakaviti
Finnish suomen kieli
Flemish Vlaamse taal, Vlaams
Fon Fɔngbè
Francoprovençal lenga arpitana, arpitan, lenga francoprovençala, francoprovençal
French langue française, français
Frisian (Northern) Frasche spräke, Frasch
Frisian (Saterland) Fräiske Sproake, Fräisk, Seelterske Sproake, Seeltersk
Frisian (Western) Fryske taal, Frysk
Friulian lenghe furlane, furlan
Fula Fulfulde, Pulaar
Fur bèle fòòr, fòòraŋ bèle
Gagauz gagauz dili / гагауз дили
Gallegan lingua galega, galego
Gascon lenga gascona, gascon
Geez ግዕዝ (gəʿəz)
Georgian ქა� თული ენა (ḳarṭuli ena)
German Deutsche Sprache / Deutſche Sprache, Deutsch / Deutſch
Gikuyu / Kikuyu Gĩkũyũ
Gothic   (gutiska razda),  (gutrazda)
Greek ελληνική γλώσσα (ellīnikī́ glṓssa), ελληνικά (ellīniká)
Greek, Ancient ἑλληνικὴ γλῶττα (hellēnikḕ glō̑tta), ἑλληνικά (hellēniká)
Greek – Dhimotiki ελληνικά – δημοτική (ellīniká – dīmotikī́)
Greek – Katharevousa ἑλληνικά – καθαρεύουσα (hellīniká – kaṯareýoysa)
Greenlandic kalaallisut
Gruzinic קיברולי (kiṿruli)
Guarani avañe’ẽ
Guernsey Norman French langue Dgèrnésiaise, Dgèrnésiais
Gujarati ગુજરાતી ભાષા (gujarātī bʰāṣā)
Haitian Creole lang kreyòl ayisyen
Hakka 客家話 / 客家话 (hakgave)
Hausa Hausa harshe / حَوْسَ حَرْش۪ (ḥausa ḥarshe)
Hawaiian ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi
Hebrew לשון עברית (lašôn ʿiṿrît)
Herero otsiHerero
Hindi हिंदी भाषा (hiṁdī bʰāṣā) / हिन्दी भाषा (hindī bʰāṣā)
Hmong  / lus Hmoob
Hungarian magyar nyelv
Icelandic íslenskt tungumál, íslenska
Igbo asụsụ Igbo
Indonesian bahasa Indonesia
Ingush гӀалгӀай мотт (ġalġaj mott)
Inuktitut ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ / inuktitut
Irish Gaelic teanga Gaeilge / teanga Gaeilge
Isan � าษาอีสาน (pʰāsā īsān)
Istro-Romanian limba istroromånă
Italian lingua italiana, italiano
Japanese 日本語 (nihongo)
Javanese basa Jawa
Jersey Norman French langue Jèrriaise, Jèrriais
Kabardian къэбэрдеибзэ (qėbėrdeibzė)
Kabyle ثاقبايليث / taqbaylit
Kalmyk хальмг келн (ĥal’mg keln)
Kannada ಕನ್ನಡ ಭಾಷೆ (kannaḍa bʰāṣe)
Karachay-Balkar къарачай-малкъар тил (qaračaj-malqar til)
Karaim karaj tili
Karakalpak qaraqalpaq tili / қарақалпақ тили
Karelian karjalan kieli
Kashmiri کٲشُر زَبان (kạ̄šur zabān) / कॉशुर ज़बान (kọ̄šur zabān)
Kashubian kaszëbsczi jãzëk
Kazakh қазақ тілі / قازاق ٴتىلى (qazaq tîlî)
Khakas хакас тили (ĥakas tili)
Khanty хӑнты ясӑӈ (ĥănty jasăṅ)
Khmer ភាសាខ្មែរ (pʰāsā kʰmær)
Kirghiz кыргыз тили (kyrgyz tili) / قىرعىز ٴتىلى (qırġız tili)
Kiribati taetae ni Kiribati
Klallam nəxʷsƛ̕áy̕əm̕, nəxʷsƛ̕ay̕əmúcən
Komi коми кыв (komi kyv)
Komi-Permyak перым-коми кыв (perym-komi kyv)
Konkani कोंकणी भाषा (koṁkaṇī bʰāṣā)
Korean 한국어 (hangukeo) / 조� 어 (joseoneo)
Koryak нымылан (nymylan)
Kumyk къумукъ тил (qumuq til)
Kurdish (Kurmanji) zimanê kurdî / زمانێ کوردی, zimanê kurmancî / زمانێ کورمانجی
Kurdish (Mukri) زمانێ کوردی / zimanê kurdî, زمانێ موکری / zimanê mukrî
Kurdish (Red Kurmanji) zimanê kurdî / зьмане к’ӧрди / زمانێ کوردی, zimanê kurmancî / зьмане к’ӧрманщи / زمانێ کورمانجی
Kurdish (Sorani) زمانێ کوردی / zimanê kurdî, زمانێ سۆرانی / zimanê soranî
Ladin lingaz ladin
Ladin (Gardena) ladin de Gherdëina
Ladin (Valle di Badia) ladin dl Val Badia, badiot, ladin-badiot
Ladin (Valle di Fassa) ladin dl Val de Fascia, cazet, ladin-cazet
Ladino lingua djudeo-espanyola / לי� גוא גודיאו-איספא� ייולא, djudeo-espanyol / גודיאו-איספא� ייול, lingua ladina / לי� גוא לאדי� א, ladino / לאדי� ו
Lak лакку маз (lakku maz)
Lakota Lakhota
Languedocian lenga lengadouciana, lengadoucian
Lao ພາສາລາວ (pʰāsā lāw)
Latin lingua latina, latine
Latvian latviešu valoda
Laz ლაზუ� ი ნენა (lazuri nena)
Lezghian лезги чӀал (lezgi č̣al)
Ligurian lengua lígure, líguru
Limousin lenga lemosina, lemosin
Lingala lokótá ya lingála
Lithuanian lietuvių kalba
Livonian līvõ kēļ
Lombard lengua lumbarda, lumbard
Low German Plattdüütsche Sprook / Plattdüütſche Sprook, Plattdüütsch / Plattdüütſch
Ludian lüüdikiel
Luxembourgish Lëtzebuergesch Sprooch / Lëtzebuergeſch Sprooch
Macedonian македонски јазик (makedonski jazik)
Maithili मैथिली भाषा (maitʰilī bʰāṣā)
Malagasy Malagasy fiteny
Malay bahasa Melayu / بهاس ملايو
Malayalam മലയാളം (malayāḷaṁ)
Maltese lingwa Maltija, Malti
Manchu MeejO (manju)
Manipuri / Bishnupriya Manipuri বিষ্ণুপ্রিয়া মণিপুরী ভাষা (biṣṇupriyā maṇipurī bʰāṣā)
Manipuri / Meitei mYtYloN / মৈইতৈইলোন (maitailon)
Mansi маньси латын (man’si latyn)
Manx chengey Vannin, Gaelg
Maori reo Māori
Marathi मरा� ी भाषा (marāṭʰī bʰāšā)
Meadow Mari олык марий йылме (olyk marij jylme)
Hill Mari кырык мары йӹлмӹ (kyryk mary jÿlmÿ)
Marshallese Kajin M̧ajeļ
Mauritian Creole morisyin, kreol morisyin
Megleno-Romanian limba meglenoromană
Megrelian / Mingrelian მა� გალუ� ი ნინა (margaluri nina)
Miami myaamia
Micmac Mi’gmawi’simg, Mi’gmaq
Moldavian limba moldovenească / лимба молдовеняскэ
Mon ဘာသာမန္ (pʰɛsa mɔn)
Mongolian монгол хэл (mongol ĥäl) / Moehgo& kEla (moṅgol ĥ̇ele)
Moravian moravský jazyk
Mordvin / Erzya эрзянь кель (ėrzjan’ kel’)
Mordvin / Moksha мокшень кяль (mokšen’ käl’)
Mossi Mòoré
Nahuatl nawatlahtolli
Nama Khoekhoegowab
Nanai нанай (nanaj)
Nauru Ekakairũ Naoero
Navajo Diné bizaad
Ndebele isiNdebele
Neapolitan lengua nnapulitana, nnapulitano
Nenets ненэця’ вада (nenėcja’ vada)
Neo-Assyrian ܕܥܒܪܸܝܛ (daʿbrīṭ)
Nepali नेपाली भाषा (nepālī bʰāṣā)
Niuean faka-Niue
Nivkh нивхгу диф (nivĥgu dif)
Nogai ногай тили (nogaj tili)
Normand langue nouormande, nouormand
Norwegian norsk språk
Occitan lenga occitana, occitan
Ojibwe ᐊᓂᔑᓇᐯ (anišinape)
Old Church Slavonic ѩзыкъ словѣньскъ (językŭ slověnĭskŭ)
Old Norse norskr
Oriya ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷା (oṛiā bʰāṣā)
Oromo afaan Oromoo
Ossetian ирон ӕвзаг (iron ävzag)
Ottoman Turkish لسان عثمانی / لسانِ عُثمانی (lisān-i ʿos̱mānī)
Palauan tekoi ra Belau
Pali पालि भाषा (pāli bʰāṣā)
Panjabi ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਭਾਸ਼ਾ (paṁjābī bʰāšā) / पंजाबी भाशा (paṁjābī bʰāšā) / پنجابی بھاشا (panjābī bʰāšā)
Papiamento Papiamentu
Pedi / Northern Sotho sePedi
Pennsylvania German Pennsilfaani-Deitsch Schprooch / Pennſilfaani-Deitſch Schprooch
Persian زبان فارسی (zabān-e fārsī)
Picard langue picarde, picard
Piedmontese lenga piemonteisa, piemontèis
Polish język polski, mowa polska
Portuguese língua portuguesa, português
Provençal lenga prouvençala, prouvençau
Pushto / Pashtu پښتو ژبه (paŝto žabâ)
Quechua Runa Simi, Kichwa
Raeto-Romance – Engadin, Lower rumantsch d’Engiadina bassa, ladin, engiadinais
Raeto-Romance – Engadin, Upper rumauntsch d’Engiadin’ota, ladin, engiadinais
Raeto-Romance – Grisons lingua rumantscha, rumantsch grischun
Raeto-Romance – Surmiran rumantsch – surmiran
Raeto-Romance – Sursilvan romontsch – sursilvan
Raeto-Romance – Sutsilvan rum� ntsch – sutsilvan
Romani Romani šib / � омани шиб
Romani, Kalderash Kalderašicko Romani šib
Romani, Kalé Romanó Kaló
Romani, Sinto Sinto
Romanian limba română
Rundi kiRundi
Russian русский язык (russkij jazyk)
Rusyn руськи язик (rus’ki jazik), руски язик (ruski jazik)
Rwanda kinyaRwanda
Saanich xʷsenəčqən
Saint Lucia Creole kwéyòl, patwa
Sami / Lappish sámegiella
Samoan gagana fa’a Samoa
Sango yângâ tî sängö
Sanskrit संस्कृत भाषा (saṁskr̹ta bʰāṣā), संस्कृतम् (saṁskr̹tam)
Santali संथाली (saṁtʰālī)
Saramaccan saamáka
Sardinian limba sarda, sardu
Scots Scots leid, Lallans
Scots Gaelic / Scottish Gaelic c� nan G� idhlig
Selkup шӧльӄумыт әты (šöl’qumyt əty)
Senaya ܣܢܝܐ (senayā), ܣܘܪܝ (sōray)
Serbian српски језик / srpski jezik
Seychelles Creole seselwa, kreol
Shona chiShona
Shor шор тил (šor til), тадар тил (tadar til)
Sicilian lingua siciliana, sicilianu
Sidamo Sidámo ‘afó
Silesian ślonsko godka
Sindhi سنڌي ڀاشا (sindʰī bʰāšā) / सिन्धी भाषा (sindʰī bʰāṣā)
Sinhalese සිංහල භාෂාව (siṁhala bʰāṣāva)
Slovak slovenský jazyk, slovenčina
Slovenian / Slovene slovenski jezik, slovenščina
Somali af Soomaali, Soomaaliga
Soninke Soninkanxaane
Lower Sorbian dolnoserbska reč, dolnoserbski
Upper Sorbian hornjoserbska rěč, hornjoserbsce
Sotho seSotho
Spanish idioma español, idioma castellano
Sundanese basa Sunda
Svan ლუშნუ ნინ (lušnu nin)
Swahili kiswahili
Swati siSwati
Swedish svenskt språk, svenska
Swiss German Schwyzerdütsch Sproch / Schwyzerdütſch Sproch
Syriac ܣܘܪܝܐܝܐ (sūryāyā / sūryō̹yō̹)
Tabasaran табасаран чӀал (tabasaran č̣al)
Tagalog wikang tagalog
Tahitian reo Tahiti
Tai Nüa ᥖᥭᥰᥖᥬᥳᥑᥨᥒᥰ (tai taɯ xoŋ)
Tajik забони тоҷикӣ (zaboni toǧikī) / زبان تاجکی (zabôn-i tôjikī)
Talysh толышә зывон (toləšä zəvon)
Tamajaq تَمَاجِقْ / Tămažəq
Tamasheq تَمَاشَقْ / Tămašăq
Tamazight tmaziɣt / ⵜⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ / تمازيغت
Tamil தமிழ் மொழி (tamiḻ moḻi)
Tashelhiyt تشلحيت / Tašlḥiyt
Tat тати (tati)
Tatar tatar tele / татар теле / تاتار تېلې, tatarça / татарча / تاتارچا
Telugu తెలుగు భాష (telugu bʰāṣa)
Thai � าษาไทย (pʰāsā tʰai)
Tibetan བོད་སྐད (bod.skad)
Tigrinya ትግርኛ (təgrəña)
Tonga / Nyasa chiTonga
Tongan faka-Tonga
Tsonga xiTsonga
Tswana seTswana
Tulu ತುಳು (tuḷu)
Turkish Türk dili, Türkçe
Turkmen türkmen dili / түркмен дили
Turoyo ܛܘܪܝܐ (ṭūro̹yō̹), ܨܘܪܝܬ (ṣūrayt), ܣܘܪܝܝܐ (sūryo̹yō̹)
Tuvalu ‘gana Tuvalu
Tuvinian тыва дыл (tyva dyl)
Udi / Udin удин муз (udin muz)
Udmurt удмурт кыл (udmurt kyl)
Uighur / Uyghur ئۇيغۇر تىلى / uyghur tili / уйғур тили, ئۇيغۇرچە / uyghurche / уйғурчә
Ukrainian українська мова (ukraïns’ka mova)
Urdu اردو زبان (urdū zabān)
Uzbek o’zbek tili / ўзбек тили / ئۇزبېك تىلى
Valencian llengua valenciana, valenci�
Venda tshiVenḓa
Venetian łéngoa vèneta, vèneto
Veps vepsän kel’
Vietnamese tiếng Việt
Volapük Volapük
Voro võro kiiľ
Votic vad’d’a tšeeli
Walloon lingaedje walon
Welsh iaith Gymraeg, Cymraeg
Wolof Wolof
Xhosa isiXhosa
Yakut саха тыла (saĥa tyla)
Yi ꆇꉙ (nuoxhxop)
Yiddish ייִדישע שפּראַך (yidiše špraḫ), ייִדיש (yidiš)
Yoruba Yorùbá
Yucateco / Maya yukatek
Zarma zarmaciine
Zazaki zimanê zazakî / زمانێ زازاکی, zimanê dimilkî / زمانێ دملکی, zimanê kirmanckî / زمانێ کرمانجکی
Zhuang Sawcuengh
Zulu isiZulu

source: http://www.gurucs.com