<h2>News Alert</h2>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; font-size: small; font-family: arial;"><a title="http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=9826907&msgid=130255&act=VMK0&c=165637&admin=0&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.icann.org%2Fannouncements%2Fannouncement-19mar08.htm" href="http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=9826907&msgid=130255&act=VMK0&c=165637&admin=0&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.icann.org%2Fannouncements%2Fannouncement-19mar08.htm">http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-19mar08.htm</a></p>
<hr style="margin: 20px 0px 0px;">
<h2 style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 0px;">New Languages Added to ICANN's IDN
Wiki</h2>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: small;">Hebrew, Amharic speakers now have pages
on Internationalized Domain Names evaluation site</p>
<p style="margin: 15px 0px 0px;">19 March 2008</p>
<p><strong></strong><strong>MARINA DEL REY, Calif.:</strong> Hebrew and Amharic
speakers now have dedicated wiki pages to share their experiences as a part of
the global evaluation of Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) being done by the
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. </p>
<p>"Since its launch in October 2007, the IDN wiki has helped ICANN and the
Internet community look at exactly how IDNs operate in the root, and how
different software handles domain names in characters from different scripts,"
said Tina Dam, ICANN's IDN Program Director. "We're hoping that Internet users
who understand Hebrew and Amharic will access these wiki pages and share their
experiences."</p>
<p>The IDN wiki was initially based on 11 example.test domains in Arabic,
Persian, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Russian, Hindi, Greek, Korean,
Yiddish, Japanese and Tamil. The wiki allows Internet users to establish their
own subpages with their own names in their own language such as
example.test/yourname. </p>
<p>Though the new languages will not be used for translations of example.test in
the Internet's root, they will be used at the fourth level (after the top level
"org", the second level "icann", and the third level "idn") so users can have
dedicated wiki pages. These language extensions to the wiki are available at <a title="http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=9826907&msgid=130255&act=VMK0&c=165637&admin=0&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fam.idn.icann.org" href="http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=9826907&msgid=130255&act=VMK0&c=165637&admin=0&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fam.idn.icann.org">http://am.idn.icann.org</a>
and <a title="http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=9826907&msgid=130255&act=VMK0&c=165637&admin=0&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fhe.idn.icann.org" href="http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=9826907&msgid=130255&act=VMK0&c=165637&admin=0&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fhe.idn.icann.org">http://he.idn.icann.org</a>.
</p>
<p>As well, with the Hebrew addition, since there is a .test TLD label in Hebrew
script, an additional address has been assigned in the Hebrew language — <a title="http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=9826907&msgid=130255&act=VMK0&c=165637&admin=0&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fxn--6dbbec0c.xn--deba0ad%2F%25D7%25A2%25D7%259E%25D7%2595%25D7%2593_%25D7%25A8%25D7%2590%25D7%25A9%25D7%2599" href="http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=9826907&msgid=130255&act=VMK0&c=165637&admin=0&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fxn--6dbbec0c.xn--deba0ad%2F%25D7%25A2%25D7%259E%25D7%2595%25D7%2593_%25D7%25A8%25D7%2590%25D7%25A9%25D7%2599">http://דוגמא.טעסט</a>.
(If this link doesn't work in your browser, you can access an embedded link at
<a title="http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=9826907&msgid=130255&act=VMK0&c=165637&admin=0&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fidn.icann.org%2FHebrew_script" href="http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=9826907&msgid=130255&act=VMK0&c=165637&admin=0&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fidn.icann.org%2FHebrew_script">http://idn.icann.org/Hebrew_script</a>.)
</p>
<p>"We have been able to add these languages to the wiki because of interest
from the community and the availability of a volunteer moderator fluent in the
language to spend time with the wiki support team to localize the language area
and work with users," added Dam. "Anyone interested in adding new languages can
contact me directly at <a title="mailto:tina.dam@icann.org" href="mailto:tina.dam@icann.org">tina.dam@icann.org</a>."</p>
<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 title="http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=9826907&msgid=130255&act=VMK0&c=165637&admin=0&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.icann.org%2F" href="http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=9826907&msgid=130255&act=VMK0&c=165637&admin=0&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.icann.org%2F">www.icann.org</a>
. </p>
<p><strong>Media Contacts:</strong></p>
<p>Jason Keenan <br>Media Adviser, ICANN <br>Ph: +1 310 382 4004 <br>E: <a title="mailto:jason.keenan@icann.org" href="mailto:jason.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 title="mailto:andrew.robertson@edelman.com" href="mailto:andrew.robertson@edelman.com">andrew.robertson@edelman.com</a></p>