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MARINA DEL REY, Calif.: The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers efforts to bring the languages of the world online have expanded with the addition of two new languages — Bengali and Khmer — to the global testing process.
"Each time we add a new language to the wiki, we open up the chance for more characters to be tested, and for more people to be involved and offer us input and ideas," said Tina Dam, Director of ICANN's Internationalized Domain Name Program "Since we launched the wiki with 11 languages in October 2007, we have added six new languages. We will continue to add languages whenever language communities come forward that can support a wiki."
The new Bengali and Khmer wiki pages are available off the main IDN wiki page, idn.icann.org, and through the following links:
Bengali
bn.idn.icann.org
বাংলা .idn.icann.org
xn--54b7fta0cc.idn.icann.org
Khmer :
http://km.idn.icann.org
ភាសាខ្មែរ.idn.icann.org
http://xn--j2e7beiw1lb2hqg.idn.icann.org
Because the addresses and some content display in fonts that many Internet users may not have loaded on their computers, ICANN has added a font page to the IDN wiki. It allows users to see if the fonts are loaded — and if they aren't to download them. The font page is at: http://idn.icann.org/Fonts.
ICANN is working with the larger Internet community to bring IDNs online at the top level. This means that instead of the current Roman characters available for domain names, close to 100,000 characters from the languages of the world would be available.
"Our goal is for IDNs to be available when the application period for new top level domains are launched in the second quarter of 2009," Dam added. "IDNs will help people have their name in their language, and these wiki pages are an important step in testing how IDNs work."
About ICANN:
ICANN is responsible for the global coordination of the Internet's system of unique identifiers like domain names (like .org, .museum and country codes like .uk) and the addresses used in a variety of Internet protocols that help computers reach each other over the Internet. Careful management of these resources is vital to the Internet's operation, so ICANN's global stakeholders meet regularly to develop policies that ensure the Internet's ongoing security and stability. ICANN is an internationally organized, public benefit non-profit company. For more information please visit: www.icann.org.
Media Contacts:
Jason Keenan
Media Adviser, ICANN
Ph: +1 310 382 4004
E: jason.keenan@icann.org
International: Andrew Robertson
Edelman (London)
Ph: +44 7921 588 770
E: andrew.robertson@edelman.com