Russian-language domain registration launches this month

Posted by Alisa Zykova on November 6, 2009 at 2:21 PM

A new domain extension for the Russian Federation will be officially available for registration beginning Nov. 25, gipp.ru reported Thursday. The move is part of an expansion plan by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers to include national alphabets of countries that do not use the Latin alphabet.

Instead of "standard" characters, Web sites would now be able to include Cyrillic, Arabic and Mandarin Chinese, according to gipp.ru. ICANN Chairman Peter Dengate Thrush said this development was the most important technological development in Internet history.

Beginning Nov. 16, ICANN will start taking requests from parties wishing to have new domain extensions. By mid-2010, Web addresses in other languages would be available. A significant portion of the requests are likely to be aimed toward Asian and Chinese domains, according to gipp.ru.

Until March 25 next year, priority for Cyrillic domain extensions will be given to state-owned companies and various brands. However, from April 20, 2010, registration will be available to anyone, but at an auctioned price. On June 15, they will be available at a normal price.

"This is only the first step, but it is an incredibly big one and an historic move toward the internationalization of the Internet," said Rod Beckstrom, ICANN president and chief executive.

For previous information on this topic, click here.