Key Considerations about IDN Registration

Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) are currently offered as a part of the VeriSign® Global Registry Services IDN Testbed. There are important points to consider when registering an IDN in the testbed.

  1. Registrants are participating in a testbed, which is subject to change.
     
  2. The testbed allows a registrant to register internationalized domain names.
     
    • Currently, registrants may register domain names in any script supported by Unicode.
       
    • The registrant's internationalized domain name is stored in the Registry's database in an ASCII-compatible representation as defined by the RACE Internet-Draft.
       
    • The uniqueness of a domain name registration in the testbed is determined by its Unicode representation.
       
  3. VeriSign GRS processes internationalized domain name transactions in the same manner as with all registrations in the .com and .net Shared Registration System (i.e., on first-come/first-served basis)
     
  4. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has not finalized internationalized domain name standards. In the future, revisions to the Internet draft documents may cause:
     
    • The registrant's domain name registration to become invalid and be deleted.
      EXAMPLE: Changes to the proposed Internet draft documents during the testbed may result in some internationalized domain names becoming invalid because they contain illegal characters or characters which may no longer be permitted due to name prep draft standards.
       
    • Modification to the VeriSign GRS Registry's internal representation of the domain name to comply with revisions to the Internet draft documents.
      NOTE: Revisions to the internationalized domain name Internet draft documents that require changing the internal representation of a domain name, and do not cause that name to become invalid, will not require a registrant to pay for a new registration.
       
    • Such occurrences will be resolved on a case-by-case basis, as they occur.
       
  5. Resolution of internationalized domain names will progress in phases, as described in the Technical White Paper on Internationalized Domain Name Resolution Deployment.
     
  6. Valid characters for the testbed are defined by the Unicode Code Point List.

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Translated work by Domain Registration Services (www.dotEarth.com) ©2003. All rights reserved.