ICANN, the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers, is on a path to introduce new top level domains. At .ORG, The Public Interest Registry, we are considering this an opportunity to introduce fully internationalized domain names (IDN), bringing our long-standing best practices of managing the .ORG registry to advance the use of the Internet across the globe. A fully internationalized domain name would have the name and the .extension entirely in a specific language script. Why are we considering this? The answer is in our public interest motivation. We are not primarily commercially driven—we are driven to do what helps and protects the domain name registrant. This has us leading the way on the deployment of new services such as DNSSEC, which adds security to the existing domain name system. For IDNs, our early support sends a very strong signal of the importance to advance this technology forward, to support the various language communities in their effort to embrace the domain name system and Internet in general. We believe that the technical community should work towards advancing the use of IDNs.

With our framework of protection for the registrant, we support the various language communities in growing and evolving the use of our IDN top level domains in a way that is most appropriate for them. We are also looking to the community to develop their language script table—a necessary element in the deployment of IDNs—which ultimately determines the most appropriate use of their language script for domain name labeling purposes.

We believe that our community-based approach to developing and deploying IDNs will best serve the public interest of the various language communities, and we look forward to ICANN’s upcoming introduction of new top level domains.

Our approach was recently discussed in an interview with Domain Name Wire.