ICANN introduces its first top-level domains using non-Latin characters

ICANN announced today that it has begun its expansion of new top-level domains, including the first names that use non-Latin characters, such as Arabic, Cyrillic and Chinese.

The expansion will take the number of generic top-level domains (gTLDs) from 22 to 1,400. Non-Latin domain strings include:

• شبكة (xn--ngbc5azd) – Arabic for “web/network”
  Registry: International Domain Registry Pty. Ltd.
• онлайн (xn--80asehdb) – Cyrillic for “online”
  Registry: CORE Association
• сайт (xn--80aswg) – Cyrillic for “site”
  Registry: CORE Association
• 游戏(xn--unup4y) – Chinese for “game(s)”
  Registry: Spring Fields, LLC

Domain registries will undergo a 30-day waiting period for trademark owners to protect their marks before the new gTLDs take effect.

➤ Internet Domain Name Expansion Now Underway [ICANN.org]

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