ICANN Opens Flood Gates

MARINA DEL REY, Calif. – The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) released a long-awaited schedule for the research and study of an international multilingual address system.

The decision came out of ICANN's Board of Directors meeting in Carthage, Tunisia this week and is expected to soon allow domain names made up entirely of non-English characters to register Top-Level Domain (TLD) names without the standard ICANN-approved suffixes like ".com," ".net," or ".org."

Tunisia was one of the first Arab and African countries to be connected to the Internet.

ICANN's CEO and President Dr. Paul Twomey is steering the governing body in the direction of resolving some long-standing issues with the international Internet community.

According to Twomey, the way the current TLD system is arranged, foreign, non-speaking countries must incorporate English words into their URLS, which would be the equivalent of U.S. Internet users having to use Arabic or Chinese characters every time they use or register a website address.

"ICANN has now moved forward with a program to introduce further competition and choice in the top-level domain markets," he said. "Today's board announcement came after a long process of consultation among ICANN and the Internet community, in cooperation with the business communities, technical communities, intellectual property communities and governments."

If ICANN's five-tier study pans out on the viability of creating suffixes in other languages, the official green light could come as early as Dec. 31, 2004 and new domain names could be in use by 2005.

The schedule will include a full assessment of technical standards to support multilingual TLDs; an assessment of the introduction of competition into the TLD market and other similar markets; a review and report on intellectual property issues involved in the introduction of a new TLD; and reports regarding technical stability issues related to the introduction of new TLDs, including contingency planning to ensure continuity of registry services.

According to ICANN, there are 258 domain suffixes on the Internet, most of them designated for specific countries such as ".fr" for France and ".us" for the United States. The implementation of the ".eu" suffix for the European Union is also in the works, according to ICANN.

For the first time in years, ICANN approved seven sponsored TLD (sTLD) domain names in 2000, including three that specifically target industries such as aviation, museums, and the business community.

ICANN announced plans this week to release another round of sTLD addresses by 2004 that will serve even more sponsored industries. Those sTLD names could possibly include the popular and long-awaited ".sex" domain name that ICM Registries has been pushing for over the past six years.

"ICANN is working hard to listen and be responsive to the Internet community's needs and they have asked for us to address the issues regarding new sTLDs" Twomey continued.

Copyright © 2025 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More News

FSC Unpacks SCOTUS Age Verification Ruling in Webinar

The Free Speech Coalition conducted a public webinar Tuesday to help adult industry stakeholders understand the Supreme Court’s recent decision in FSC v. Paxton, and its potential implications.

UK Lawmaker Calls for Appointment of 'Porn Minister'

Baroness Gabrielle Bertin, the Conservative member of Parliament who recently convened a new anti-pornography task force, is calling for the appointment of a “minister for porn,” according to British news outlet The Guardian.

FSC Toasts Jeffrey Douglas for 30 Years of Service

n the very same evening when the adult industry was hit hard by the Supreme Court ruling supporting Texas’ controversial age verification law, HB 1181, members of the Free Speech Coalition board, staff and supporters gathered to celebrate Jeffrey Douglas’ 30 years as board chair — a fitting reflection of his reputation as an eternal optimist.

TTS Opens UK Testing Location

Talent Testing Service (TTS) has opened a new U.K. location in Ware, Hertfordshire.

FSC: Age-Verification Laws Go Into Effect South Dakota, Georgia, Wyoming on July 1

The Free Speech Coalition (FSC) has published a statement regarding new age verification laws set to go into effect tomorrow in South Dakota, Georgia, and Wyoming.

FSC Responds to Supreme Court Decision on Texas AV Law

The Free Speech Coalition (FSC) has released a statement responding to last week's Supreme Court decision on FSC v. Paxton, the Texas age verification law.

Sex Work CEO Debuts Upgraded 'GPTease' AI Assistant

Sex Work CEO has introduced the new Canvas in-chat editing feature to its AI-powered, NSFW text generator, GPTease.

UPDATED: Supreme Court Rules Against Adult Industry in Pivotal Texas AV Case

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday issued its decision in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, striking a blow against the online adult industry by ruling in support of Texas’ controversial age verification law, HB 1181.

North Carolina Passes Extreme Bill Targeting Adult Sites

The North Carolina state legislature this week ratified a bill that would impose new regulations that industry observers have warned could push adult websites and platforms to ban most adult creators and content.

Supreme Court Ruling Due Friday in FSC v. Paxton AV Case

The U.S. Supreme Court will rule on Friday in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, the adult industry trade association's challenge to Texas’ controversial age verification law, HB 1181.

Show More