by Tina Dam on November 12, 2008
One of the main IDN related topics from the just-finished ICANN meeting in Cairo that I think deserves some additional attention was:
Why Compliance with IDN technical requirements are a necessity on a global scale
Overall compliance with technical standards are important for TLD registry operators in order to keep their TLD stable and secure and in that way function and work well for their consumers and communities. Per ICANN Bylaws, interoperability of the Internet is a core value, which requires that technical standards are complied with. In some instances failure to comply with technical standards will only affects the corresponding TLD in isolation and does not interfere with other TLDs – when moving to the topic of IDN TLDs however this fact changes very quickly.
by Tina Dam on June 26, 2008
One of the main IDN questions asked by end-users in the last few months, and that have been discussed during the ICANN Paris meeting in the recent week is as follows:
“If I have registered <domainname>.tld, then how will you ensure that I am also the registrant of <domainname>.<idn-tld>, for all languages.”
by Tina Dam on June 6, 2008
As you may know by now ICANN has launched an IDN wiki, with fully localized addresses, which is managed by a GREAT wiki team (consultants to ICANN) and a GREAT group of moderators that have volunteered to assist is supporting the various languages that the wiki currently is enabled in.
Is it possible to add new languages, and since we last announced this possibility (http://blog.icann.org/?p=290#more-290 ) we received requests for a few more.
by Kieren McCarthy on March 31, 2008
by Tina Dam on March 20, 2008
The IDN wiki was launched in October 2007 to provide a test environment of IDNs that is open and available to all interested parties. The IDNwiki was initially based on the eleven example.test domains listed on the main page (http://idn.icann.org) with articles and discussion in each of the indicated languages.
Although there currently are no plans for establishing further .test top-level domains, separate facets of IDNwiki can be established in additional languages. The first two such language extensions have just been made available:
by Richard Lamb on February 29, 2008
Yesterday ICANN began DNSSEC signing the IDN .test zones. Over the next few days, we will be testing and carefully monitoring the system. It is not expected that DNSSEC or the testing will have any effect on normal DNS operations. Any user experiences or problems or feedback should be reported to <richard.lamb@icann.org>. This deployment is intended to demonstrate certain capabilities and also provide both ICANN and those interested in DNSSEC an opportunity to gain further experience with this new technology.
by Tina Dam on February 22, 2008
One topic that kept being misunderstood at the ICANN meeting in India was ‘what is the purpose of the IDN wiki’ – the example.test site that are actual IDN TLDs in the root. I’ll try to explain what is going on with the wiki and what it can and cannot be used for.
First some background and clarifying information. Having your script/language represented in the wiki is not a pre-requisite for eventually getting an IDN TLD in the root. These 11 languages/scripts are merely being used to evaluate usability of IDNs in applications. The “example.test” strings in the wiki were translated into the specified languages and then represented by the associated scripts.
by Stephane Van Gelder on February 12, 2008
Dans un pays hôte où les langues et les scriptes sont si nombreux (22 langues officielles), personne ne sera étonné de voir les IDN occuper le devant de la scène. Ces noms internationalisés – comprenez des noms de domaine acceptant des caractères autres que le seul code ASCII, des accents français aux caractères mandarins en passant par le cyrillique et tout autre alphabet “exotique” – ont fait l’objet d’un atelier dès le lundi à New Delhi. Le sujet a déjà fait couler beaucoup d’encre et engendré de nombreux maux de têtes. Le défi : incorporer environ 100 000 de ces caractères venant des langues du monde entier dans le système de nommage, au niveau de l’extension.
by Tina Dam on February 6, 2008
ICANN hears this question all the time at meetings, events, in different online forums, on the idn.icann.org wiki, and in emails and phone calls. The great challenge is it the answer isn’t the specific “as of this date” answer so many people want to hear. Because of the nature of some critical functions that still needs to be finalized, such as for example the policy process, we’re only able to provide an estimate.
Right now both the GNSO and the ccNSO are taking a look at how IDNs can be introduced or delegated at the top-level – how you can get, say, all-Arabic-cahracters after the dot in a domain name. ICANN have processes for delgation of ccTLDs and there have been a couple of rounds in the past years for introduction of new gTLDs, but none of these included IDN TLDs.
by Kieren McCarthy on January 23, 2008
It is very inconsiderate of five-sixths of the world to fail to speak English, but then we are reliably informed that they feel pretty much the same way.
And so while the Internet has done an extraordinary job of transcending physical borders, language remains a pretty significant issue if you want to actually communicate with your new online neighbour.
When it comes to ICANN’s work, this comes with an extra layer of complexity thanks to the fact that the vast majority of English speakers wouldn’t know what an English speaker was talking about when discussing many of the topics that concern ICANN on a day-to-day basis.
ICANN’s second regional meeting will open its doors in Dubai tomorrow, Tuesday 1 April.