(Thumbnail image from Flickr user sanbejji under Creative Commons license)
Internet regulator ICANN announced Oct. 30 that the World Wide Web will become more international by expanding its domain names beyond the current Latin alphabet. ICANN will begin accepting applications for non-Latin Web addresses beginning Nov. 16.
The change to Internationalized Domain Names, or IDNs, is expected to create better communication for more than half of all Internet users, but does it also translate to less security on the net? The media are reaching out to technology experts to learn more about the issue. We’re looking at perspectives from Russia Today, CNN, MSNBC, Wired and BBC News.
ICANN President Rod Beckstrom tells BBC News how this will development will change everyday Internet use for people whose languages aren’t Latin-based.
“Especially with small, local businesses, community projects, groups that wouldn’t have a different identity in say, the English language, or in a Latin script. They only describe themselves, for example, here in Seoul, in Korean Hangul characters, so they’ll be able to do that on the Internet. It’s a real source of national pride and also convenience for people.”
MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow speaks to tech culture journalist Xeni Jardin who says Latin-alphabet users will see very little difference in how they use the Web.
“This is really not going to heavily impact English-language speakers or anyone around the world who’s using a Latin alphabet to access the Internet. This is about the next billion users on the net, and you know what, they’re not going to be using the Latin alphabet; they’re not going to be coming from America.”
But a Wired Magazine contributor points out that the introduction of internationalized domain names could lead to burdensome IDN registration.
“Companies will be forced to protect their brand by registering yet more variations of their current domains (think Coca-Cola in every language possible). Domain-name speculators will race to buy as many names as they can in languages they don’t understand in order to…make money from people who accidentally type that URL into a browser address bar.”
Russia Today speaks with the head of the Internet Department of Kaspersky Lab about how non-Latin Web addresses could open new doors for hackers.
“This new development narrows down the Internet to Cyrillic users, the second effect will be on stopping virus writers and phishing. They will be harder to fight when they write in Russian or even in a mix of languages.”
But a Chinese Internet café owner tells CNN that this ‘mix of languages’ is what makes the new technology appealing for so many kinds of people.
"If they can make this technology work, and people can use their own language to enter in addresses, I think that that would really expand the practical applications of the Internet… People from different walks of life and different age groups could get more engaged with it."
What do you think? Will international domain names be a positive change, or will they cause a decrease in Internet security?
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