MINC Formulates Plan Assisting Members Launch MDNs (Multilingual Domain Names)
14 Jan 2004Network Solutions (NSI) has recently announced that they will no longer provide multilingual domain name registration services or host multilingual domain names as of February 28, 2004.
The .org registry, Public Interest Registry, has also announced that it will be deleting legacy multilingual domain names, which are RACE encoded, from its registry database on February 1, 2004. Network Solutions will be deleting them from their systems on that date as well.
Owners of current ML.com and ML.net registrations were informed to change registrations to a registrar that provides and will host multilingual domain names (MDNs) and that this has to be achieved through another provider prior to February 28, 2004 to avoid loss of services. Sources indicate that other registrars have also slowed down or stopped their ML.ascii registrations in the past few quarters.
It is worth mentioning that four of the world's five largest registrars (together counting more than 60% of the market), starting with Melbourne IT more than a year ago, and Register.com about a year ago, have now stopped or quietly dropped promoting/selling ML.ascii, as reported by some industry sources.
"As some of the aforesaid registrars are members of MINC, we are deeply concerned about this trend if it is really true," said Khaled Fattal, Chairman of MINC.
Perhaps more significantly and largely unreported is the ML.ascii sales/promotional activity of smaller registrars that focus their general domain names (ascii.ascii and ML.ascii) sales in key IDN regions.
The Verisign ML.com testbed, being by far the source of most ML.ascii registrations to-date, has registered over a million names but less than half of the sold were channeled through these bigger global registrars. As expected, the majority was sold by smaller registrars, domestically in just 3 non-Western countries corresponding to the 3 top languages of registration - Chinese, Korean, and Japanese, with China counting half of that.
Local sources suggest that many of these registrars, particularly the Chinese and Japanese, have for a year or more either ceased selling or ceased prominently promoting the ML.com product. "Therefore, the implications of the NSI announcement appear to have deeper and widening repercussions," said a board member of MINC.
"NSI's decision is so critical and pivotal because it marks an end to a failed approach using mixed IDNs which had been hoped to bring in the participation and acceptance of consumers from the non-English/non-ASCII speaking regions, which this approach had failed to do. I think these events mark very important milestones for the vindication of true ML.ML. For years the world has been forced to accept that mixed IDNs are the answer. Many of our members have been forced to embark on them, and found them difficult to sustain. Now, reality has surfaced at long last". Mr. Fattal elaborated.
"MINC is and has been the only institution which remained true to this just cause for years," he opined. "It's about time we draw a greater attention to the only proper solution to the internationalization and the multilingualization of the Domain Name System, that of ML.ML and not making another short term solution," he added.
The MINC Chairman also reiterated that "the only way forward is a Proper Multilingual Internet based on local empowerment, legitimate language standards, and tables developed by the local regions and interoperable amongst each other based on an internationally recognized platform.
MINC's Interoperability Testbed platform, set up to test IDN Interoperability solutions amongst vendors can also test and prove to detractors that ML.ML is truly achievable. "It is one of our many initiatives to promote a faster deployment of IDNs globally, in a way consistent with the themes highlighted recently at the WSIS meetings in December," said MINC Secretariat, Mr. Charles Shaban, Executive Director of Abu-Ghazaleh Intellectual Property (AGIP), whose Chairman, Mr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, has been a notable speaker at WSIS in December 2003. "MINC will always champion the cause of Multilingualization of the Internet through local empowerment," he added.
MINC is currently working with all institutions, which share this vision. In this regard, MINC board is formulating a plan with MINC Members to initiate the development of full ML.ML IDNs. It is calling for all interested parties to sign up with this initiative by contacting the MINC Secretariat (http://www.minc.org/cgi-bin/webemail/sec).
"This plan builds on our Testbed effort, as well as our current discussions with key officers of major institutions like the UN and ITU," noted one of the senior industry players, Dr. S Subbiah of i-DNS.net International Inc, one of MINC's founding members and current MINC Treasurer. "Our involvement is with local and global processes like the WSIS to further accelerate true IDNs as opposed to the mixed IDNs such as ML.com and ML.org or ML.ccTLDs that are currently experiencing loss of interest."
"The people all around the world, across language and cultural boundaries and their markets have not only spoken but they have indicated clearly their dissatisfaction with these products," said Mr. Fattal. "It is time for those who have ignored their real needs for years to start listening or render themselves irrelevant at many levels, including the current developments at the UN level," Mr. Fattal added.
Initial participants of this initiative will be meeting in APRICOT 2004 conference on 25th February 2004 in Kuala Lumpur to discuss this Full Multilingualization Plan. Interested parties at this conference include MINC Members, Verisign Inc., i-DNS.net, Talal Abu-Ghazaleh International (TAGI), and Neteka (now acquired by Afilias).
MINC, through this press release is calling for more active participation by all stakeholders in IDN in order to provide collective input to the ICANN process and now, the WSIS/ITU/UN processes.
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