ICANN, The internet regulator has approved plans to allow non-Latin-script web addresses, in a move that is set to transform the online world.

The board of Icann voted at its annual meeting in Seoul to allow domain names in Arabic, Chinese, Hindi and other scripts.

More than half of the 1.6 billion people who use the internet speak languages with non-Latin scripts.

It is being described as the biggest change to the way the internet works since it was created 40 years ago.

The first Internationalised Domain Names (IDNs) could be in use next year.

Plans for IDNs were first approved at a meeting in June 2008, but testing of the system has been going on for two years.

Technical upheaval

The move paves the way for the internet’s Domain Name System (DNS) to be changed so it can recognise and translate non-Latin characters.

The DNS acts like a phonebook, turning easily understood domain names into strings of computer-readable numbers, known as Internet Protocol (IP) addresses.

This change is very much necessary for not only half the world’s internet users today but more than half, probably, of the future users as the internet continues to spread, Said Rod Beckstrom, President of Icann

So be ready to book your domain names in Hindi in India, initially it will be relased only for government official websites and later under sun rise period for patented or copyright companies to book their domain names in their native language only in allowed scripts.

For More information on domain names contact IBEE at 09949922500 or info@ibeehosting.com