We’ve mentioned IDN domains a few times in the past.
To jog your memory, an IDN domain uses non-ASCII characters ie. an IDN domain name could use pretty much any character set – not just the “standard” Latin one. So if you were Russian you would probably want to type in domain names in your own character set, which you currently cannot do (though you will be able to soon.. )
ICANN’s Kim Davies tweeted yesterday that three IDN country code domains were now live in the root:
If you’re using an iPhone or Safari you can visit that web address in your browser and see it in the address bar in its full UTF-8 glory (click to enlarge) :
You can read more about yesterday’s milestone on the ICANN blog or on Kieren‘s blog.
About the Author: Michele Neylon
Known for his outspoken opinions on technology and the Internet, Michele Neylon is the award winning author of several blogs and co-host of the Technology.ie podcast. A thought leader in the Internet community, Neylon is active within ICANN and an expert on policy, security, domains, ICANN, Nominet and Internet Governance. You can stalk him on various social media networks including Twitter and Instagram
