Domain names set for change
The Internet is set for change! Till now, you have been used to names that could only contain 26 alphabets (hyphens and numbers as well). And now, the Internet regulatory has approved plans to use non-latin scripts in web address. So you’ll have web addresses in arabic, chinese and few other scripts. These Internationalized Domain Names (IDN) will be in use from next year.
It is said to be the biggest change since the start of the Internet 40 years ago. It is also described that more than 1.6 billion internet users speak/use non-Latin languages/scripts. This paves way for the DNS (Domain Name System) to be changed so it can recognize these non-Latin scripts.
ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), the authoritative body, would start accepting these Internationalized Domain Names starting November 16, 2009 and these IDNs would be up by mid 2010. Chinese, Arabic and Russian script IDNs will be the ones to have early IDNs.