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<p class="title">My Name, My Language, My Internet: IDN Test Goes Live</p>
<p class="subtitle">ICANN launches global test of Internationalized Domain Names</p>
<p class="docdate">15 October 2007</p>
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<div style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 0pt 10px 0pt 0pt; float: left; text-align: center; width: 250px;">
<a href="http://www.icann.org/announcements/photos/idn-tshirts-600x430-15oct07.jpg"><img src="http://www.icann.org/announcements/photos/idn-tshirts-250x179-15oct07.jpg" style="border: 0px none ; width: 250px; height: 179px;" alt="ICANN is celebrating the ability of people to get 'My name, My Language. My Internet' wiki pages with the launch of the IDN evaluation with T-Shirts displaying example.test in the 11 languages.">
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<p style="padding: 0pt 5px 5px; font-size: x-small;">ICANN is
celebrating the ability of people to get "My name, My Language. My
Internet" wiki pages with the launch of the IDN evaluation with
T-Shirts displaying example.test in the 11 languages.</p>
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<p><strong>MARINA DEL REY, Calif.</strong>: Internet users around the
globe can now experiment with their name in their language on their
Internet with today's launch of the Internet Corporation for Assigned
Names and Numbers live testing of Internationalized Domain Names in 11
languages. </p>
<p> "This is one of the most exciting times yet in the development of
IDNs," said Dr Paul Twomey, ICANN's President and CEO. "Internet users
who speak the 11 languages of the test can play a key role in testing
how IDNs operate, and help us move toward full implementation for all
the languages of the world." </p>
<p> Internet users around the globe can now to access wiki pages with
the domain name example.test in the 11 test languages -- Arabic,
Persian, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Russian, Hindi, Greek,
Korean, Yiddish, Japanese and Tamil. The wikis will allow Internet
users to establish their own subpages with their own names in their own
language -- one suggestion is: example.test/yourname. </p>
<p> ICANN has also put a video explaining the evaluation process on YouTube, and available on the ICANN website.</p>
<p> The wiki pages can be accessed by typing example.test in the characters of one of the 11 languages, or by going to <a href="http://idn.icann.org/">http://idn.icann.org</a>. </p>
<p> "These wikipages are key to the test. We want to know how the URL
displays in the Internet browser, if it works when you cut and paste it
into the body of an email to a friend, and how all of this impacts the
root zone," Dr Twomey added. </p>
<p> The 11 evaluation wikis will remain online until IDNs are fully
implemented and the first top-level domain is introduced in the
evaluation language. </p>
<p> The full introduction of IDNs will mean that people can write the
whole of a domain name in the characters used to write their own
language. Presently you can only use these characters before the dot,
so .com, .net, .org and the like can only be written in characters from
basic Latin. IDNs will change this so that literally tens of thousands
of characters will be available to the world. </p>
<div style="clear: both; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><br><p style="width: 580px; margin-top: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; font-size: small; text-align: left;">The
"example.test" labels with the associated scripts, the languages that
were used for translation of the two terms "example" and "test", and
the A-labels for second and top level that are inserted in the IDN TLD
zones and DNS respectively.</p></div>
<div style="border: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255); text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; clear: both;"><object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RK49jK-oIpU">
<param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object><p style="width: 580px; margin-top: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; font-size: small; text-align: center;">IDNs Part 2: example.test Evaluation Period (3:05) | also available at
<a href="http://dotsub.com/films/idnspart_1/">dotSUB</a></p></div>
<div style="border: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255); text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; clear: both;"><object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/rod8ZJjpJO4">
<param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object><p style="width: 580px; margin-top: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; font-size: small; text-align: center;">IDNs Part One: An Introduction (4:22) | also available at
<a href="http://dotsub.com/films/idnspart/index.php">dotSUB</a></p></div>
<p><strong> About ICANN: </strong></p>
<p> 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: <a href="http://www.icann.org/">www.icann.org</a>. </p>
<p><strong> Media Contacts: </strong></p>
<p>Jason Keenan<br>
Media Adviser, ICANN (USA)<br>
Ph: +1 310 382 4004<br>
E: <a href="mailto:%20jason.keenan@icann.org">jason.keenan@icann.org</a></p>
<p>International: Andrew Robertson<br>
Edelman (London)<br>
Ph: +44 7921 588 770<br>
E: <a href="mailto:%20andrew.robertson@edelman.com">andrew.robertson@edelman.com</a></p>
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