Internationalized access to domain names: a review of methods and issues
| Date | 26 June 2007 |
| Published date | 26 June 2007 |
| Pages | 290-299 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14684520710764078 |
| Author | Sung J. Shim |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
Internationalized access to
domain names: a review of
methods and issues
Sung J. Shim
Department of Computing and Decision Sciences, Stillman School of Business,
Seton Hall University, South Orange, New Jersey, USA
Abstract
Purpose – This article aims to understand the opportunities as well as the challenges posed by the
methods for internationalized access to domain names.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper first provides background information on how
domain names are resolved in the domain name system (DNS). It then reviews the various methods for
internationalized access to domain names with a focus on their technical implementation and potential
problems. Finally, it discusses several important language and policy issues surrounding the methods.
Findings – The methods proposed for internationalized access to domain names can be classified
into two groups: ASCII-compatible encoding; and multilingual keywords. ASCII-compatible encoding
methods, such as the internationalized domain name (IDN) standards specified by the internet
engineering task force, seem technically sound since they do not affect existing DNS operations, but
they have some structural limitations. Multilingual keyword methods are rather simple and intuitive
to use but they are not compatible with one another and so may return different results from the same
multilingual keyword query. Also, both ASCII-compatible encoding and multilingual keyword
methods can raise some important issues associated with languages and policies, such as linguistic
problems, disputes over IDNs, and multilingual homographs.
Originality/value – The issues discussed in this paper need to be addressed for broad and seamless
implementation of the methods for internationalized access to domain names across various
languages. The review of the methods and associated issues can prove helpful to those from internet
users and domain name registrants to domain name registries and registrars.
Keywords Internet, International business,Languages, Information searches
Paper type General review
Introduction
Domain names are valuable to internet users as a main identifier of entities and
resources on the internet. Until now, domain names have been registered and accessed
only in a subset of ASCI I characters that incl udes the 26 English le tters
(case-insensitive), ten decimal digits (“0” to “9”) and the hyphen (-). This limitation,
which is largely due to the historical origin of the internet in the United States, may
diminish the international scope and usability of the internet. The number of internet
users who speak a primary language other than English has increased dramatically in
recent years and consists of about two-thirds of internet users in the world today.
Given the increasing number of non-English speaking users on the internet, it would be
desirable to allow the use not only of domain names in ASCII characters but also
domain names in non-ASCII characters, called Internationalized Domain Names
(IDNs), that are less universal but easier to remember and use in local contexts.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1468-4527.htm
OIR
31,3
290
Refereed article received
21 September 2006
Approved for publication
20 February 2007
Online Information Review
Vol. 31 No. 3, 2007
pp. 290-299
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
1468-4527
DOI 10.1108/14684520710764078
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