Posts filed under 'IDNs'
by Chuck Kisselburg
ICANNWiki.org
As you can see from information about the wiki, ICANNWiki.org is based in the city of Portland, in the state of Oregon.
Oregon is one of the world leaders for the Open Source community. In fact, it is not uncommon for companies from around the globe to open up a research and development arm here in Oregon to take advantage of Oregon’s Open Source community.
Portland, Oregon’s largest city, is home to many people who actively work with and develop for the Open Source community. As such there are many ideas and conversations regarding community. From my perspective, with my position at ICANNWiki, I can not think of a better city in which to be located to have active, ongoing conversations with other members of the Open Source community.
With that said I was at an informal after-hours event a couple of days ago where I had an interesting conversation with a gentleman whose business profession is that of copy writing. I have always viewed copy writers of any country as the unofficial keepers of their respective language. A good copy writer ensures what we read not only conveys the message properly, they ensure that what is conveyed is grammatically correct.
After learning about ICANNWiki.org and how it is a neutral resource for the various communities that make up the overall ICANN community, those being ICANN academics, registries, registrars and domainers, he could not help but refer to this community as “Your Community”. He was not referring to “Your Community” in a bad way, just his way of referencing the whole ICANN community in our conversation.
The reason I thought this conversation was interesting enough for a separate post is every language, in some way or another is adaptable over time. English is one of the more flexible, or adaptable languages out there. He noted that as time has progressed the English language has evolved very rapidly in the last decade. True, the advent of computers have brought English terms to English and other languages, such as “PC”, “hard disk” and “mouse”, to name a few. Also, through “Your Community” new words have emerged, such as “Google”, “Twitter” and “Yelp”, also to name a few. However this gentleman felt that “Your Community”, or the overall ICANN community, has done more for bringing change to, or “influencing” the English language than any other such “influencer”. What he was referring to was how the Internet has brought people together, locally as well as globally and how communication can take place NOW as opposed to later. People can text, call, IM (instant message), e-mail, play games, connect with other networks, etc… FAR more easily than they could a little over a decade ago. Think back to your communication habits or capabilities back in 1995.
ICANN has created the standards and stability for the Internet. Companies and domainers, through development, provide the content and applications people use while registries and registrars provide the naming conventions people use to access applications. So, in a nut shell, “Your Community” has done a lot to advance the evolution of the English language.
With that said I could not help but wonder if a person, whose profession is copy writer in the English language, has already seen a quicker evolution of English, what will other copy writers experience of their respective languages once IDNs have been implemented for 5 years?
So while he kept referring to “Your Community” in our conversation, I couldn’t help but think about “Our Community” and how often can you be part of something where “Your Community” can have such an influence on the evolution of languages and how people communicate. So, hat’s off to “Our Community”!
August 18th, 2008
By Chuck Kisselburg
ICANNWiki.org
Last month Paris was the site for all things Internet.
June 21-26 ICANN held its 32nd International meeting. I am not saying that fits my claim of “All things Internet” because two other conferences were being held just prior to ICANN’s conference. The other two conferences were the EGENI conference on the 20th and the Domainer Meeting on the 19th and the 20th. All three conferences were held at the same venue.
As we all know, the goal of ICANN meetings is to focus on utilizing input for purposes of the development of policy regarding the Internet. The Domainer Meeting focused on the domaining industry with sessions on the industry followed by an auction. The EGENI conference covered issues regarding the future of the internet, what users want and the impact of new TLDs, especially what they may be able to do from a cultural and heritage perspective.
While ICANN continued to have their “standards” feel, and the Domainer Meeting continued with the Domainer entrepreneurial spirit, the EGENI conference viewed more into Internet Governance from the public perspective. The EGENI conference also provided perspective from the needs of the European Union in the overall global discussion.
From ICANNWiki’s perspective, this is a dream only because everyone that makes up the ICANNWiki “community” was under one roof. What I especially liked was members from the three groups were talking – TOGETHER! While members of the EGENI conference actively take part in the various ICANN conferences, there are members from the Domainer community that are going to take on a greater role by actively participating on various ICANN committees. I have seen and heard others talk about respective groups bickering over other groups. So getting ALL voices to the table is a good thing.
In all this was a very successful venue for all conferences. While the EGENI conference was more regionally and IGF focused, the conference pulled in around 100 people, the Domainer Meeting, more European-centric, attracted over 300 people. As for the ICANN meeting, this was ICANN’s largest meeting with approximately 1,500 in attendance.
The three things I pulled from ICANN’s conference were:
1). Additional TLDs are on the way. The process is being defined and applications, at the time of this conference, should start being accepted by 2nd quarter, 2009. Yes, this may slip, but the overall feel is this will happen. The main concern voiced by conference attendees rested with security.
2). IDNs continue to progress and will become a reality. Progress is being made.
3). Reaching out to businesses. ICANN’s new effort is to reach out to the business community. Reaching out not only ensures the voices of the business community are heard, it allows the business community to hear what is coming, how they will be impacted and why changes are important. The item at the top of my mind is to help businesses understand the need for converting from IPv4 to IPv6.
As for the EGENI conference the main things I took away from this conference were:
1). As the European Union continues to develop, their needs can differ from those of the US as the EU has a common interest and culture difference from the US; so it is important to ensure the EU is heard. The EU has an initiative known as “E2010” where by the year 2010 education and healthcare will be able to use the Internet to enhance reaching out to the public. With this come challenges such as the need for the protection of:
* Children
* Personal data
* Data protection
2). The various ISOCs (Internet Societies) provide a way for the public to provide their input; with the ISOCs providing input to the political level. In other words, the political level is wanting to get more involved in raising the EU’s concerns regarding Internet development.
3). What do you do with a society that utilizes their mobile phones to a greater extent than people in the US? What about the need to reach out to various devices on the net that are not PC-based; hence a pressing need for migration for IPv4 to IPv6.
4). New TLDs will be coming out with the new TLDs being able to provide a strong focus on culture, heritage, and economic development for the respective TLD regions, whether a specific TLD covers a city, the region of a country, or a region that encompasses multiple countries due to a common economic region.
You can learn more about the EGENI conference by viewing the session notes.
So to wrap up this post, again I get back to how great it was to see the confluence of people from the various groups (ICANN policy/standards, Internet governance, Domainer) in one place. I hope this confluence continues as “continued” dialogue is healthy and committee participation from the various groups is the best way in moving forward. Perhaps someday “confluence” will be replaced with “convergence”. In the mean time, as mentioned earlier, “Getting ALL voices to the table is a good thing.”
July 10th, 2008
by Chuck Kisselburg
While leaving my hotel the other day I happened to glance at the USA Today newspaper. At the bottom of the front page was a story titled, “ChinaUSA in Internet users vaults past ”. As the story points out, the number of Chinese on the Internet hit more than 220 million by February, compared to 216 US Internet users at the end of 2007.
While US-based internet usage for 2007 had grown 53% over the following year to reach the 216 million mark, it should be noted that of the US’s 304 million people, 71% use the Internet today. China, on the other hand with it’s higher figure and strong growth rate (233 million at the end of March vs 220 million in January), only 17% of its 1.3 billion population uses the Internet. As you can see China has a LONG way to go before starting to reach a point of saturation.
Being that I was at a conference all day whose focus was on the Domaining industry, I was not able to see how much attention this story received on any of the evening news stations. I am pleased, however, that this story was not buried within the newspaper as this is a very significant story.
Last February I blogged on the concept of IDNs and the perception of IDNs being on ICANN’s fast track. So based on the fact that China has been forging ahead with the potential of “Their Own Internet” and seeing that the number of users of the Internet has surpassed that of the US is rather significant to me.
While the story came and went on the pages of USA Today, I can’t help but think of the following aspects of this milestone:
1). How distinct is China’s Internet over the Internet you and I use today and what impact might varying internets have on each other? (I am referring to the root server system.)
2). What impact will this have on the overall IDN conversation? Is China doing what works for their users and how might this impact the way a Chinese-based Internet affects application development (as highlighted in my posting on “Practical Implications Regarding ICANN’s IDN TLD Evaluation Deployment in the Root Zone”), allowing for a culturally good Internet experience as well as ICANN’s process for IDN script development?
So while China is shooting beyond the US regarding number of users on the Internet, it will be interesting to watch other countries do the same, especially when IDNs are rolling out. It will also be interesting to see how the Internet “industry”, as we know it today, may shift. It will also be interesting to see how, if any, instances or segments of the Internet may grow and operate without following any of the established policies and agreements established through ICANN, as may be the case with China.
April 23rd, 2008
By Chuck Kisselburg
NIXI (National Internet eXchange of India), is the registry for “.inâ€. With offices throughout India NIXI is the meeting point for all ISPs in India. NIXI facilitates the exchange of Internet traffic between peering ISP members. What better way to understand the impact IDNs will have on India than through a conversation with a member of NIXI?
Having just spent a week in New Delhi for the ICANN conference, I was fortunate to spend time in the community. My hotel, NOT one of the recommended hotels, seemed to cater less to those who spoke English and more to those from around India and Southeast Asia. In other words, I heard very little English. Most of those who worked at the hotel spoke very little, to no English. As such I could not help but see how useless today’’s Internet is to a group of people. Now, expand my little microcosm to the world and the number of people who can’t really use today’s Internet is, well, HUGE!
As Director of ICANNWiki.org, I am VERY pleased to have had this conversation with Rajesh Aggarwal, the Additional CEO for NIXI. Rajesh provides insight regarding the impact IDNs will have on one of earth’s most populated countries, India. With 22 “official†languages, and countless local languages and dialects, India stands to benefit greatly from the use of IDNs.
What does having IDNs mean to you?
More than a billion Indians do not understand English. We are going for Indic language operating systems, applications and web content. Having URLs also in the Indian language will be a good step to include for all of these people.
Will IDNs have an impact in your area?
It will generate positive vibes, or feelings, in the sense that Internet administrators are concerned about non-English speaking people.
How might IDNs hinder your geographic region?
There are still issues in typing Indian characters in browsers- this however will be covered by plug-ins. We have to be careful about phishing, etc. as many Indian characters and conjuncts can be confusingly similar. There are multiple ways of writing the same word.
How might IDNs help businesses in your geographic region?
Many small businesses, especially catering to rural areas, may register IDNs and create websites in Indian languages.
Which group will benefit most from IDNs in your area and why?
Registrars will have a new area opening up. Bloggers, Indian language Newspapers, and small businesses will be the first ones to go for these addresses.
Do you foresee any challenges with which applications will be able to support IDNs?
Yes. Operating System and browser issues are still there. In many cases characters are still not represented the way they should be.
How do you hope IDNs are NOT used?
I hope they are not used for purposes of phishing and cyber squatting. We have to be very careful about this.
What is your biggest hope for IDNs to accomplish?
My biggest hope for IDNs is that they generate interest in Indian languages, resulting in the creation of many more websites and blogs in local languages; more than are available today.
Thank you, Rajesh!
March 3rd, 2008
by Chuck Kisselburg
Edmon Chung, CEO of DotAsia, and his staff have been working at developing community around the new .Asia TLD. With the .Asia community encompassing a varied collection of countries and cultures, I felt Edmon’s insight towards IDNs would prove to be a valuable discussion. It should also be noted that today is the first day of DotAsia’’s Land Rush program. What follows is my discussion with Edmon.
What does having IDNs mean to you?
Being a pioneer of IDN technologies and having been promoting its adoption since before the turn of the millennium, having IDN means a lot. It means the end of a long struggle and the beginning of a truly global Internet. Direct navigation is still the most consistent method for surfing the web. IDN makes the Internet accessible and associable for the rest of the world. Domain names today are no longer simply a command line on the technical infrastructure of the Internet, but also part of the social and identity fabric of the online world. Having IDN become a natural part of the Internet is a vision me and many of my colleagues who have worked very hard on the issue over the years have.
Will IDNs have an impact in your area?
Yes. Asia is probably the region that will benefit the most from the full deployment of IDN. Many languages in Asia are not expressed in the Latin script (i.e. ASCII), IDN will allow for a native experience on the Internet. Imagine perhaps that the Russians invented the Internet and we all have to learn Cyrillic to navigate to different websites, how inconvenient it would be. That is the reality for the majority of the online population today.
What impact will it have in your area?
I believe that it will open a new era of Internet usage in Asia. IDN will be a platform that will bring corporations, shops and local stores online. For the first time, these operations will find its own voice and identity online. The Internet is as much about global communications as facilitation of local communities. IDN will allow Asia’’s local communities to further flourish in cyberspace and to find linkage around the world through Asians overseas.
How might IDNs help your geographic region?
As mentioned, Asia will probably be the region that will benefit the most from IDN. From the Arabic west Asia, the Sino east Asia to the Indic South Asia and other South East Asia languages, IDN would help different language communities find their voice on the Internet. IDN is not content, but neither is it simply a command line. IDN provides a platform for development of the Internet in Asia.
How might IDNs hinder your geographic region?
Development on the Internet will be hindered without the full deployment of IDN.
How might IDNs help businesses in your geographic region?
IDN will give businesses, especially local and small and medium sized enterprises the opportunity to represent themselves the way they are known to their customers. The value of a name and brand is clear to understand. Being able to reflect that online means facilitation of business.
How might IDNs affect the people in your geographic region?
IDN will allow for a native experience for navigating the Internet.
Which group will benefit most from IDNs in your area and why?
Ultimately, end users will benefit the most from IDN.
Do you foresee any challenges with which applications will be able to support IDNs?
As we have seen through the nearing ten years of work on IDN, there will be many challenges as applications deploy IDNs. Phishing issues, policy issues, languages issues and forward and backward compatibility issues are just a collection of a few of them. Nevertheless, I do not believe any of these should be prohibitive for the full deployment of IDN. Another important area that requires our continued hardwork is email addresses.
What do you foresee as the negative aspect to IDNs?
There has been talk about IDN causing problem for anglo-centric or Latin-based language users to be unable to connect to parts of the Internet. I do not think the characterization of such situation is correct. As the non-English speaking community today navigates through the Internet utilizing search or clicking on links for which mean little to them, in the future, those not speaking a particular language will still be able to search and click to IDN sites and content. Similarly, today there is already a significant amount of content on the Internet that is non-English, does that mean that content causes the fracturing of the Internet for its legacy users?
How do you hope IDNs are NOT used?
I hope IDN will not be un-used.
What is your biggest hope for IDNs to accomplish?
My biggest hope, then when I first started working on IDN technologies as now, is for IDN to eventually become a natural part of the Internet and a taken-for-granted part of Internet navigation. When people do not consider IDNs “IDN” is when IDN is truly successful. Perhaps then people would not believe that in the beginning domain names were only acceptable in English alphanumeric characters.
February 20th, 2008
By Chuck Kisselburg
With ICANN’’s conference in New Delhi behind us now (February 10th – 15th) the topic of IDNs was one of the hot topics of this conference. In fact, New Delhi was a great place to showcase the progress of IDNs for several reasons.
1). India has 22 “official†languages.
2). India is part of a dynamic region, a region with MANY languages (portions of the Middle East, Southern Asia as well as Southeast Asia.). Not only does this region support a large number of varied languages, it has an even greater number of diverse cultures.
Being that IDNs will prove to have a significant impact to the whole global Internet community, my next couple of posts will focus around IDNs and what it means to members of the ICANN “communityâ€. As such I have asked a couple of members of our “community†about their thoughts on the subject.
Through my previous writings you know that I am keenly in favor of IDNs since I see the value this can bring to the local “communityâ€. In other words, I see IDNs bringing a whole new social aspect to users of the Internet, helping to increase this global community. While some feel IDNs are a way for registrars, and ICANN, finding a way to obtain more money, and others feel IDNs dilute the very reason of the Internet, that being bringing people together, what I appreciate most about IDNs is the impact this will have in preserving cultures. Who better to be aware of the many cultures of this globe than this community of ours?
Then there are applications. Will applications be IDN “aware� For more information on this, please visit my previous blog post on practical implications of IDNs.
I approached my first ICANN conference in LA with great enthusiasm about IDNs. I had a great time meeting members of this global community and enjoyed listening to what they had to say. When it came to IDNs, however, it is an understatement to say I received an ear full, especially when talking about IDNs being on ICANN’s “fast trackâ€.
The topic of IDNs is not new. In fact, this is something people within our global community have been working towards for years. There is no doubt that much needs to be considered when moving forward with IDNs, but on the “fast track� At the LA conference ICANN was demoing concepts of how IDNs can work. This is not a fast track?
As mentioned earlier, when I talked with people at the conference (regular attendees as well as sitting committee members) I received an earful about the topic of “IDNs†and “fast trackâ€. It seems the same word kept coming up in each conversation: “Chinaâ€.
What I learned was China has been working on an initiative to bring Internet connectivity to as many residents of China as possible – even down to the small towns throughout the country. When you think of China’s population, our global online community will thus be expanding at an unprecedented rate. What impact would this have on the stability of the root servers? Hmmmmm…… In fact, as I continued to listen to those at the LA conference, China was moving forward, even if it meant they would manage and own their own root servers, with or without ICANN’s involvement. So it appears that what “fast track†movement on IDNs we have seen from ICANN appears to be due to China’s initiative and progress. If China moves forward on its own with its own root server(s) would it send today’s root servers into a state of imbalance? What if China refuses to sign ICANN’s “Mutual Responsibilities Agreement†outlining mutual responsibilities on the operation of root servers; as ICANN recently entered into with the Internet Systems Consortium? What impact would this have on ICANN if China moved forward on its own and operated a version of the Internet that was not under the authority of ICANN? What would this do to ICANN and mean for the current global online community?
February 19th, 2008