Internet has become a huge part in our everyday lives, and it is important that Internet can be penetrated

into different regions, which have peculiar languages. One of the main barriers preventing users from such
regions is because they cannot use English well enough. According to the 2012 tate of the !lobal and
"ocal Internet #omscore report, the non$English spea%ing Internet population has grown to &' ( )percent* of
Internet users, with the Asia$+acific region accounting for ,1.1 ( )percent* of the Internet users in the world.
!iven the rise in the non$English spea%ing Internet users, do we really want language to be restricting the
potential Internet users and also the potential mar%et- .o solve this problem, the concept of I/0 was
proposed by the A"A# to ma%e it easier for everybody to access the Internet.
1e have seen debates about whether citi2ens should have the 3ight to Internet, but is there actually a point
of having that right when users can4t even access it in their own language. It has been 5 years since the I/0
variant program was launched, and it is already in its final stage i.e. +hase ,. .he phase , is dependent on
the community wor% though. I#A00 has been pushing really hard, and we firmly believe that the day is not
far when I/0s will be universally accepted. In fact, there is no reason that I/0s should not be universally
accepted. everal challenges will come up, but these challenges as they have been and will be the
motivating factor to wor% towards establishing I/0s universally.
As far as the !0O is considered, the biggest challenge we face is the problems and conflicts that can arise
with the transliteration and pronunciation process. 6or instance, 7.com8 and 7.net8 will be written and
pronounced differently in 9apanese and :indi. Also, with the establishment of so many new g."/s under the
new g."/ program, this problem e;pands instantly and the number of conflicts for ."/4s can increase
e;ponentially as the number of supported scripts will increase. .o counter this issue, .he !eneric 0ames
upporting Organi2ation )!0O* #ouncil has been wor%ing towards solving this problem, and positive
results are e;pected before the +hase , of the ."/ variant process is completed in 201<.
.he biggest =uestion often put towards in front of !0O, is the fact that are registrars and registries will face
an increase competition with introduction of the new I/0s. .hough they4ll see an increase in new I/0s,
there4ll also be the e;isting ."/4s being converted in the respective languages for the purpose of I/0s. .he
contracted parties of the !0O, the registrars and registries, are particularly e;cited with the introduction of
the I/0s. It allows to registries to increase their potential user base, and hence their mar%et as well. .he
registries also encourage healthy competition and believe they are ready for this new era. Also, presently not
all registrars will be able to cope up with the registration of new I/0s. 6or the time being, !0O is confident
that there are enough registrars to register the I/0s available now and also for the upcoming I/0s for a
while. !0O believes that with the increasing I/0s being registered, other registrars will be also be
encouraged to start preparing themselves to be able to register I/0s. !0O has always strived on the need
for competition and believes that the spirit shall cataly2e the universal acceptance of I/0s.
Apart from the points mentioned above, the !0O would li%e to re$iterate the fact that universal acceptance
is another step forward with the new vision I#A00 is starting to approach towards the globali2ation of the
Internet. Internet is a portal to a whirlpool of %nowledge and should not be limited to a certain set of people
>ust because of their language and vernacular language preference.




Sixty-four percent of the world population currently do not use the Latin script so the market
potential for IDNs is actually quite good. he catch is that in order for the IDN LDs to ha!e
!alue you need to ha!e uni!ersal acceptance in place otherwise it"s not a#le to create that
!alue and generate more !alue.$
- %inalia &#dul %ahim' &L&( IDN )orking *roup
6ormer committee? g0O )!eneric 0ames upporting
organi2ation* $ #ontracted parties
@embers? @entors?
Aeisu%e Otsubo Euniss #heung, @ung han
"ucy Andreyan 1ilson "am
3ohan 1adhwa