The Internet address goes global
TEXT OF STORY
Bill Radke: The Internet address goes global. The company that acts as the world’s clearinghouse for Internet domains is a California-based non-profit called ICANN. Reporter Kurt Achin says ICANN is about to help the Web speak the local language around the world.
Kurt Achin: Up until now, Internet users have had to type out web page URLs using the Roman alphabet.
But on Friday, ICANN’s board — meeting here in Seoul — is expected to change all that, when it votes to introduce what’s called “Internationalized Domain Names.” Within a year or two, Web users will be able to type out their favorite Web addresses using Chinese characters, Korean hangeul, Arabic script, and so on.
Rebecca MACKINNON: The Internet is no longer dominated by English speakers anymore.
Rebecca Mackinnon is a Hong Kong University professor specializing in Internet governance. She says about one and a half billion people now use the Internet. Most are university graduates who are comfortable with the Roman alphabet. But the world’s next online generation looks a little different.
MACKINNON: Really the next billion Internet users are increasingly going to be peasant farmers in far western China, who maybe didn’t graduate from grade school.
Friday’s vote is expected to create a boom for companies that register domain names — as well as a lot of legal headaches in deciding who has the right to register certain addresses.
In Seoul, I’m Kurt Achin for Marketplace.
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