New rules allowing internet domain names to use non-Latin characters are opening up the World Wide Web to billions of people worldwide.
Domain names can now be formed entirely using the Russian and Arabic alphabets. Until recently, web addresses had to use western suffixes, such as ".com", putting up a barrier for users who could not understand the letters.
"This is part of the internet becoming more truly global," Rod Beckstrom told the Associated Press. Beckstrom is CEO of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the US body that assigns domain names and IP addresses.
With the changes, users in Egypt, for example, can access websites with the domain suffix ".masr" (in Arabic). This will transform internet use in the country, where only 17 million of 60 million mobile device users are currently online.
Tarek Kamel, Egypt's Minister of Communications and Information Technology, was excited about the opportunity, telling the media there were now strong reasons for making Egyptians part of the internet "revolution."
He said new markets would open up for the internet "by eliminating language barriers."
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia joined Egypt as the first on board with the new system.
ICANN has received over 20 requests for new domain suffixes, in 11 different languages, but the process will take time. "It takes some energy to do the work on the technical script selection," said Beckstrom.
23 May 2010
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