Information note to the press |
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International Telecommunication Union
For immediate release |
Telephone: +41 22 730 6039
Fax: +41 22 730 5939
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One Internet, Many Voices
International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
Address Development of Multilingual Domain Names
Released Jointly by ITU and WIPO
Geneva, 14 December 2001 — Representatives of diverse stakeholders met on December 6-7, 2001 to review the technical, legal
and policy issues relating to enlargement of the domain name space to support scripts of
languages other than English to be used in domain names, as well as the intellectual property
implications of such developments. A symposium, organized jointly by the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), in
association with the Multilingual Internet Names Consortium (MINC), brought together some 200
participants; drawn from the Internet and legal communities, as well as policy-makers, and
government representatives.
It is estimated that by 2003 two-thirds of all Internet users will be non-English speakers;
however, a significant barrier remains for many of these potential users as Internet domain
names are in a restricted set of Latin characters, most commonly used to write English.
"Native speakers of Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Tamil, Thai and other languages are
at disadvantage," said Roberto Blois, Deputy Secretary-General of the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU). "The global nature of the Internet makes international
dialogue critical if a universal solution to the problem is to be found." Francis Gurry,
Assistant Director General of WIPO, pointed out "Equality of access to the valuable
resources provided by the Internet is an issue of critical importance to the international
community, and is a key concern for international intergovernmental organizations, such as ITU
and WIPO." "Also, while expansion of the domain name space means greater opportunities
for legitimate users, it also opens up new opportunities for cybersquatters. We are keen on
ensuring that the expansion does not happen at the expense of any one party," he added.
The Domain Name System (DNS) serves to facilitate users’ ability to navigate the Internet
by mapping the user-friendly domain name to its corresponding numeric Internet Protocol address.
A domain name registration, whether in a generic top-level domain (gTLD) or a country code
top-level domain (ccTLD), provides a global presence which ensures that the corresponding online
address is accessible online from anywhere. It is estimated that there are more than 100 million
such names already stored in the DNS. While the process of "internationalization" of
the Internet’s DNS is underway, a number of problems need to be overcome to ensure that all
linguistic systems are fairly represented on the Internet. The challenges are complex and go far
beyond technical considerations; these include administrative arrangements for multilingual
domains, competition policy, market access, intellectual property and dispute resolution
mechanisms, as well as cultural and social issues.
A number of commercial and private organizations have proposed solutions that would enable
multilingual domain name use but no de facto or technical standards that would guarantee
interoperability have yet emerged from the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) . The result
is a risk of confusion in the marketplace among Internet users and providers. Blois noted,
"We do not want to run the risk of fracturing access to the Internet and as a result
increasing the digital divide between developed and developing nations." The digital divide
refers to the uneven pace of progress in access to and awareness of information and
communication technologies. Gurry noted, "The Internet has achieved its remarkable success
largely as a result of the fact that all users can access the same Internet from any location in
the world, and any development should give priority to preserving this uniformity and
stability".
The Symposium was organized by the sister UN organizations, in association with MINC, to
provide a forum in which a diversity of views and perspectives could be shared, and future
directions could be explored. By looking at existing challenges faced on a daily basis by
intellectual property holders and administrators in protecting trademarks in our multilingual
world, experts in intellectual property and Internet technology shared experiences that may lead
to a greater understanding of the issues raised by an increasingly internationalized domain name
space. Key among those issues is the critical challenge faced by enterprises in protecting their
intellectual property in a multilingual world, both on and offline, and the need for effective
dispute resolution to resolve the domain name conflicts that will inevitably arise.
According to Blois and Gurry, the joint ITU/WIPO symposium is a step in bringing about a
wider understanding of the many issues raised by the implementation of multilingual Internet
names. Gurry said, "We welcome an orderly expansion of the domain name system which more
accurately reflects the linguistic diversity of the offline world and is done in a way that
preserves the rights of intellectual property owners." Blois said, "We should not
underestimate the significance of this activity, as it is part of a broader objective: namely
the true internationalization of the Internet. Let us work together towards that noble
goal."
For further information, contact:
Mr. Robert Shaw
Internet Strategy and Policy Advisor
International Telecommunication Union
Tel: +41 22 730 5338
E-mail: robert.shaw@itu.int |
Media Relations Office
World Intellectual Property Organization
Tel: +41 22 338 8161
publicinf@wipo.int |
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