What's in a (Web) name?
OK, here is a quick review of how web names are assigned ... the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a US based non-governmental organization, sets the rules and registers applications through third party providers such as Network Solutions, Register.com, and HUNDREDS of other vendors that can be found through http://www.internic.net/. Since the Web is worldwide, there have been problems of late figuring out what do with foreign language website name registrations that don't always use the A-F and numeric keyboard characters to spell out a name. According to ITpro, a British-based publication, apparently the ICANN and others are preparing to take the plunge into non-English Web names to satisfy an ever growing worldwide market.
I have worked a lot in Asia, especially in China, and I was amazed the first time I saw Chinese office workers using a QWERTY keyboard to type Chinese characters in a Word document. My next shock was using a Microsoft Windows computer at my work station that had a Chinese toggle to change the entire user interface into Chinese, including pull down menus, help functions and the Control Panel. If you were familiar with Microsoft, you just used the Chinese version and only toggled to English if you needed to find a particular file.
I don't see this concession by ICANN going so far as to include Chinese characters in Web names, but I do see the need for accents and foreign language symbols to be incorporated into Internet lexicology.
In California, the DMV took a long time to incorporate symbols into license plate numbers. Now hearts, hands, and other symbols are included in vanity plates, and law enforcement is able to trace these plates to their rightful owners. Similarly, why shouldn't someone using an accent grave or a tilde register a domain name?
If they follow through with this policy change, it will be a bold move by ICANN that has been criticized for being too American-centric in its administration. The Web is big enough for the world to play and prosper using its inter-connectivity to communicate and do business. The US will eventually be better off for the diversity.
Chris Crawford
www.justiceserved.com