DotAsia Publishes Draft IDN Launch Policies

Pinyin, Romaji and Romanized Domains could get Priority to Register in IDN

December 15, 2009 — Hong Kong  — Following the announcement on November 18, 2009 (http://www.idn.asia/main/2009/11/dotasia-to-launch-internationalized-domain-names-idn-in-2010.html), DotAsia today published a draft of the IDN launch policies for discussion.  The policies will be finalized after the Kuala Lumpur APRICOT meetings in February 2010, where the Annual General Meeting of DotAsia will be held, for the launch process to begin later in the year.

“Internationalized Domain Names (IDN) is very important for Asia.  The proposed IDN launch policies will allow businesses in Asia to register and protect their brand names in their own native languages with priority,” says Edmon Chung, CEO of DotAsia.  “DotAsia is committed to a stable and orderly introduction of IDN registrations under the .Asia domain.  Our policies intend to promote a balanced consideration for protecting intellectual property rights, as well as encouraging pioneering usage of IDN in .Asia.”

The draft Sunrise policies included provisions for trademark holders around the world and registered companies in Asia to register their names in Asian languages under the “.Asia” top-level domain before general availability of IDN registrations are open to the public.  The draft policies also proposed priority for existing alphanumeric “.Asia” domain registrants, including those with transliterated names (such as using Pinyin for Chinese or Romaji for Japanese) to register their respective native versions in IDN.

Further information and discussions can be found at http://www.idn.asia.

About DotAsia Organisation

DotAsia Organisation is a regional not-for-profit organization with a mission to promote Internet development and adoption around Asia. DotAsia oversees the “.Asia” top-level Internet domain name, and is formed as an open membership consortium of official domain authorities around the region, including .CN (China), .JP (Japan), .KR (Korea), .IN (India), .NZ (New Zealand), .PH (Philippines), etc., and regional Internet organizations including APNIC, APNG, APCERT, PAN and APTLD. DotAsia has a core mandate towards digital inclusion, education and research and development.

Since the launch of the “.Asia” registry in March 2008, DotAsia has been proactively contributing to the Internet and cultural community in Asia. Today, DotAsia is already supporting many community projects in the region: Relief.Asia (http://www.relief.asia), ISIF.Asia (R&D Grants Fund — http://www.isif.asia), CreativeCommons.Asia (http://www.creativecommons.asia), OLPC.Asia (One-Laptop-Per-Child Initiative in Asia — http://www.olpc.asia), DSF.Asia (Digital Solidarity Fund — http://hk.dsf.asia), OSS.Asia (Open Source Software consortium — http://www.oss.asia), and NetMission.Asia (youth volunteer program & network — http://www.netmission.asia).


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