The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, ICANN, has approved the first four internationalized top-level domain names. Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and the Russian Federation now will be able to access domains in their native scripts and not have to figure out Latin characters that they are not familiar with.
According to an ICANN news release, the domains should be accessible to all users by the middle of this year. As of right now sixteen applications in eight languages have been received and ICANN anticipates more.
“These international names will now allow people to type entire domain names in their own language. This makes a pivotal moment in the history of Internet domain names,” said ICANN CEO and President Rod Beckstrom.
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