Cyrillic domain names come to Russia

The conference "Cyrillic domain names in the Internet" was hold by VeriSign Inc. with RIPN and the Coorditaion Center of RU ccTLD on November 13, 2003.

In march 2003 ICANN approved the IETF IDN standard. Then VeriSign confirmed support for IETF IDN Standard.

VeriSign, Inc. is pleased to joint with RIPN, RU-CENTER and RBC to introduce Cyrillic domain names to the people of Russia, and to other Cyrillic speaking peoples around the world.

"We are pleased to have such significant associates to join with us in this important initiative", said Bart P. Mackay, Director of International Policy and Business Development for VeriSign Naming and Directory Services. "According to a report from Global Research, 60% of Internet users are non-English speakers. To reach this growing segment and to make the Internet as inclusive as possible, providing content and domain names in the local language is essential. For the enterprises and people of Russia, this means Cyrillic content and domain names."

Much like an address imprinted on the outside of an envelope allows the postal service to deliver the envelope to the appropriate party, a domain name directs a cyber-request to the appropriate destination. Without the domain name, "Surfing the Web" as we know it is not possible. For companies, from local businesses to global enterprises, establishing a presence on the Internet is essential. A key component of establishing a presence is a domain name. A domain name, or Web address, serves as the access point to a company’s Web site. It is critical part of the infrastructure of the Internet.

Internationalized Domain Names, or IDNs, are domain names represented by local language characters. The local language characters are followed by a top level domain extension, such as .com or .net and are for use primarily in markets where English is not the primary language.

"With IDNs, a company can select a name, or names, that are effective and meaningful for their audience or market", said Alexei Lesnikov, Executive Director of RU-CENTER. "The ability to navigate the Internet in Russian is a logical step in increasing Russian content and facilitating the use of Russian information resources for native Russian speakers."

For more information or to register a domain name in Cyrillic, interested parties are invited to "Surf to Web" to http://www.idnnow.com.

About VeriSign, Inc.

VeriSign, Inc. delivers critical infrastructure services that make the Internet and telecommunications networks more intelligent, reliable and secure. Every day VeriSign helps thousands of businesses and millions of consumers connect, communicate, and transact with confidence. Additional news and information about the company is available at http://www.verisign.com.