Web Addresses Available in Other Languages
The Internet has long been dominated by English, but that's about to change. Starting Monday, Web users will be able to test Internet addresses in 11 languages that don't use the Roman alphabet.
STEVE INSKEEP, Host:
On Mondays we talk about technology, and today we'll talk about it in a foreign tongue.
English is the language of business and of diplomacy but it may no longer be the only language for the Internet. There's an initiative to open up domain names and Web sites to a new set of languages, which are available for testing as of today.
Corey Moore reports.
COREY MOORE: For the first time, Web address suffixes like dot org and dot net will be available in 11 languages that don't use the Roman alphabet, like Arabic, Chinese and Hindi.
Tina Dam is with the group ICANN, which started the effort several years ago.
TINA DAM: You know, it's pretty exciting. I mean, the goal for that, of course, is that you can have your domain name in, you know, written with characters from your language all the way through.
MOORE: That opens up the Net to billions of people in developing countries who aren't using it. Making Web addresses international has been an issue since the Internet was first developed. Some countries, like China and South Korea, have already come up with their own solution: devising domain names in their own languages. That can cause confusion online.
Tina Dam hopes the global project will solve that problem.
DAM: It wasn't viewed as something that would be commercialized to the point that it is today.
MOORE: Now that it is, she says, companies are sure to want to take advantage of the opportunity to tap into billions of potential users who aren't yet online. ICANN hopes to launch by the end of next year.
For NPR News, I'm Corey Moore.
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