Volume VI

Issue : 4: February 21, 2008

• ICANN Still Not Ready for Non English Domain Names
• Court Protects Anonymous Posters Identity
• Wireless Ringtones Attract Copyright Protection
• Controversial Online Gaming Company Applies for UK License
• Pennsylvania Woman Faces $10 Million Fine for Unlicensed eBay Auctions
• Canadian Version of Sedona Conference E Discovery Principles Released
• Are Software Licenses Unfair
• French Court Orders Heineken to Remove Beer Ads from Website

Home > Volume VI > Issue 4: February 21, 2008 > ICANN Still Not Ready for Non English Domain Names

ICANN Still Not Ready for Non English Domain Names

ICANN, the governing body for domain name issues is reviewing requests for non-English top level domain (TLD) names. Certain countries including China have proposed a fast-track mechanism to get non-English domains such as a Chinese character equivalent to the .cn suffix.

Currently, TLDs are restricted to 37 characters (a-z, 0-9 and hyphen). This list permits TLDs in only a limited number of languages. The expansion to other characters has raised numerous concerns including how to ensure a domain in one language is not offensive in another. Following weeklong discussions in India, ICANN took no action other than to schedule further discussion opportunities.

For additional information, visit:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23186223/