Internationalized Domain Name(IDN)

What is an Internationalized Domain Name (IDN)?

Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) is domain name or Web address, represented by local language characters or non-English languages for example Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Danish and German.

What kind of Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) does WebNIC offer?

Availability of languages for respective suffixes are listed under the language drop down list when partners perform the domain registration.

What is the different between the Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) of different extensions especially for Chinese Simplified and Chinese Traditional version?

Different Registry applies different rules on the Internationalized Domain Name (IDN), there are some confusion on the IDN domain name with Chinese Simplified and Chinese Traditional, below with a summary table specific for the IDN with Chinese Simplified and Chinese Traditional.

IDNs Registration of Variant Same registrant will own the other variant? Resolution
IDN.com/
IDN.net/
IDN.cc/
IDN.tv/
IDN.info/
.IDN.asia
Domain in Chinese Simplified being registered, Chinese Traditional will be blocked from registration and vice versa No If domain in Chinese Simplified being registered, only Chinese Simplified able to resolve and vice versa
IDN.biz/
IDN.cn
Domain in Chinese Simplified being registered, Chinese Traditional will be blocked from registration and vice versa Yes,
if Chinese Simplified being registered, the Chinese Traditional will assign under same registrant and vice versa
Both domains in Chinese Simplified and Chinese Traditional able to resolve
IDN.tw Only able to register under Chinese Traditional, Chinese Simplified is not available Yes,
\Chinese Traditional being registered, the Chinese Simplified will assign under same registrant
Both domains in Chinese Simplified and Chinese Traditional able to resolve
IDN.香港 Domain in Chinese Simplified being registered, Chinese Traditional will be blocked from registration and vice versa Yes,
if Chinese Simplified being registered, the Chinese Traditional will assign to same registrant and vice versa
Both domains in Chinese Simplified and Chinese Traditional able to resolve. Combination of Chinese Simplified and Chinese Traditional characters will not able to resolve
IDN.org Domain in Chinese Simplified being registered, Chinese Traditional will be blocked from registration and vice versa. Only Chinese characters are allowed. No If domain in Chinese Simplified being registered, only Chinese Simplified able to resolve and vice versa
IDN.cn/
.中国/
.公司/
.网络
Domain in Chinese Simplified being registered, Chinese Traditional will be blocked from registration and vice versa.
* Domain registered under IDN.cn will automatically reserver for .中国 extension as well
Yes, if Chinese Simplified being registered, the Chinese Traditional will assign under same registrant and vice versa Both domains in Chinese Simplified and Chinese Traditional able to resolve
IDN.在线/
IDN.中文网
Domain in Chinese Simplified being registered, Chinese Traditional will be blocked from registration and vice versa. Only Chinese characters are allowed. No If domain in Chinese Simplified being registered, only Chinese Simplified able to resolve and vice versa

*Note: For IDN domains that is using our default DNS, domain resolution will only be limited to the variant that you have registered, other variant of the domain will not be resolved.

I have registered an Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) with Chinese Simplified language tag, do I still required to register the domain name in Chinese Traditional language tag?

Different Registry applies different rules on the Internationalized Domain Name (IDN), please refer to above table for more details under the “Registration of Variant”.

After I have registered an Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) with Chinese Simplified language tag, are both of the Chinese Simplified and Chinese Traditional able to resolving?

Different Registry applies different rules on the Internationalized Domain Name (IDN), please refer to above table for more details under the “Resolution”.

Can I modify, delete, renew or transfer a Chinese IDN.org that is registered successfully?

Chinese IDN.org domain is newly launched on 23 January 2010, Chinese .org IDNs registered from 23 January 2010 (19:00 UTC) to 22 February 2010 will unable to perform modify, delete, renew, transfer and will be placed under Hold status until 25 March 2010.

This is to allow any Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP) disputes to be initiated. This will provide intellectual property owners an opportunity to identify any potential infringements.

Will my client able to visit the website with Internationalized Domain Name (IDN)?

Current users who are already using i-Nav plug-in in their web browser or they are using IDN-enabled browsers will able to browse the website with Internationalized Domain Name (IDN). However, the i-Nav plug-in will be no longer applicable with effective on 7th June 2011 due to cease of distributing by the provider. Therefore, we recommend the site visitors to install an IDN-enabled browser of their choice and continue to enjoy navigating the Web using IDNs in their own language. A few sample browsers currently supporting IDNs are as follows:

Microsoft Internet Explorer
URL: www.microsoft.com
Platform: Windows XP, Windows Server 2003
Version: 7.0 and higher

Netscape Navigator (English only)
URL: netscape.com
Platform: Windows
Version: 7.0 and higher

Opera Web Browser
URL: <a class=”link” href=”http://www.opera.com” target=”_blank”www.opera.com
Platform: Windows, Mac OS X, Linux
Version: 7.2 and higher