ICANN readies the web for true globalisation

Icann has opened the web to billions more users thanks to its decision to allow non-Roman character sets such as Hebrew and Arabic in top-level domain names.

Icann, which manages top level domains such as .com, .co.uk, .eu and .ch, has voted to allow internalisation of these domains. This would enable sites to use Chinese, Arabic and Hebrew characters in their web addresses.

Emily Taylor, director of legal and policy at UK domain name registry Nominet, said, "About 4.5 billion people are not on the internet. Allowing non-Roman character sets will free a huge roadblock for internet users in other parts of the world".

Because the internet supports only web addresses written in the Roman character set, users in China, the Far East or Middle East often have to switch their keyboard settings to type in the last part of a web address. Icann's decision means they will no longer need to do this.

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