Frequently Asked Questions - IDN Registrant FAQ
An overview of the Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) scripts supported by .INFO and how Internet users can register and use these names.
- What are IDNs?
- How do IDNs work?
- How do browsers read and resolve IDNs?
- What are the "restricted characters" used by Punycode?
- How are IDNs registered?
- What is the process for an end-user to access an IDN Web site?
- How do I use an IDN with my e-mail?
- Which registrars offer IDNs for .INFO?
- How much will it cost to register these domains?
- What IDN scripts are available in .INFO?
- Does the .INFO Whois show only Punycode for each name?
- Who is responsible for generating the Punycode?
- Is anything special required for Punycode entries in the zone files?
- What are character variants and how does .INFO handle them?
- Can I register domain names with the character "ß" (Eszet)?
- How is the Whois be impacted by IDNs?
- How are IDN hostnames be handled?
- Does the .INFO solution adhere to the approved ICANN guidelines?
- What do the ICANN guidelines address?
- How does .INFO ensure DNS resolution of these names? Have you released a plug in, or have you adopted a server-side solution?
- What is the registration term for IDN domains?
- Internet users have already become accustomed to using ASCII domain names. Why does Afilias think IDN registrations are important?
- Why will domain name owners want to register IDNs in .INFO? Isn't it more meaningful in a country code TLD that is specific to one language?
"IDN" is the acronym for: "Internationalized Domain Names". IDNs are domain/host names that are represented by native language, non-ASCII characters. The native language domain name is followed by the Top Level Domain (TLD), such as .info, .com, or .org. An example is: müller.info
Typically, when a browser sees a host name, it sends a request to the DNS resolver service which then sends a request to a domain name server to return an IP address corresponding to that host name. When the IP address is returned, a connection is made to the appropriate Web server.
In the case of IDNs, when a browser sees a non-ASCII character host/domain name in its location bar, or a URL with a non-ASCII domain part embedded in a web page, the application is required to convert the non-ASCII characters into a special encoded format (Punycode) using only the standard ASCII subset characters. Punycode is required because the restriction that only a subset of ASCII characters be used in URL/URI at the network protocol level is still enforced, even with the introduction of IDNs. (This requirement is defined in RFC 3490 and states characters used in IDNs must be drawn from Unicode Standard 3.2.)
When a compliant browser receives input for an IDN, it converts the IDN into Punycode – the official standard that has been approved for converting IDN domains into resolvable ASCII domains. This process converts the name into an ASCII string with the prefix "xn--" that can be looked up at the TLD nameserver to determine the location of the Web site. Other encodings use different prefixes, e.g., "bq--" is used in Row-based ASCII-Compatible Encoding (RACE). Punycode ("xn--"), was accepted as the IDNA standard by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) on 14 February 2003.
Browsers that support this functionality include Internet Explorer 7, Netscape 7.1, Mozilla, 1.4, and Opera 7.
Punycode uses only restricted ASCII characters and numbers (A-z, 0-9) and the hyphen (-). The Punycode schema and the standardization which specifies IDN wire-format to remain in the restricted ASCII repertoire was based on the following advantages:
- Language independent
- Superior in compression
- Compact in code size
- Round-trip safe
- Superior for encoding Chinese/Japanese/Korean characters. (over other ACE schemes evaluated at that time)
To register a .INFO IDN, the IDN must come from an Afilias-authorized and ICANN-accredited registrar. The unique IDN is then placed into the Afilias registry IDN database. Before this can be accomplished, however, the names to be registered in the IDN database must be converted into the alphanumeric representation based on the Punycode IDN standard. The conversion of the IDN local language characters into the equivalent Punycode is performed by the registrar.
In a compliant browser (e.g. IE 7, Netscape 7.1, Mozilla 1.4, Opera 7), you type the IDN in the address bar or click an active link. The IDN is then resolved, and the Web site you wish to access will be displayed.
With a fully IDN-aware environment, you should be able to setup and use IDN for emails just as you would for ASCII only domains, using the Punycode form of the IDN.
Registrars may be either enabled or disabled for IDN registrations. Please check our list of registrars offering .INFO IDNs.
It is up to the registrar to determine the retail pricing of the name, although we expect it to be consistent with existing prices for .INFO domains.
The full list of scripts supported for .INFO is available here.
Afilias' Web-based Whois and Port 43 Whois output displays both the registered Punycode name, a Unicode HEX sequence representing the registered IDN as well as an HTML encoded display of the IDN name in its native form.
Registrars are responsible for the conversion. A Registrar Toolkit (RTK) that supports valid Punycode generation is available to registrars to help them with this process. The obligations of all parties are explained in the Registry-Registrar Agreement (RRA).
No. There are no special efforts required.
When two or more Unicode codepoints share one meaning or are linguistically deemed equivalent by local authorities, this results in "character variants". For example, they occur between Simplified and Traditional Chinese scripts, and are potentially confusing to people who are using these scripts. Someone in mainland China, for example, might enter a domain name in Simplified Chinese and be sent to one site, while someone in Taiwan might enter what they perceive as the same domain name in Traditional Chinese and be directed to a different site.
Based upon consultation with language experts, the German script does not result in variant issues.
The .INFO registry accepts IDN registrations in compliance with the IETF IDN standards and ICANN IDN guidelines for the German script only. Registrars are responsible for converting an IDN to its Punycode equivalent before submitting it for registration to the registry. As such, according to the IDN technical standards, the "ß" (Eszet) is effectively mapped to "ss" based on the Nameprep mechanism. Therefore, in short, YES, you may register domain names that contain the "ß", but that information, when passed to the registry by your registrar, will essentially be registered as double-s: "ss". More specifically, Afilias does not recognize or distinguish between a registration for "ß" or "ss", some what similarly to how the registry treats registrations for "XyZ" as "xyz" (i.e. the domain "straße.info" will be technically equivalent to the domain "strasse.info"). IDNA-compliant browsers should convert the encoded domain (e.g.: straße.info) into ASCII (e.g.: strasse.info) to facilitate resolution.
The "domain name" field will display the registered name in Punycode (e.g. probestück.info will appear as xn--probestck-w9a.info). Three additional fields will be introduced to the Afilias Whois:
- IDN Script: The intended script / language (based on RFC3066) of the IDN as determined by the registrant (e.g. "de" for German)
- Unicode Hex: The IDN in Unicode Hex format (e.g. U+0070 U+0072 U+006F U+0062 U+0065 U+0073 U+0074 U+00FC U+0063 U+006B)
- Unicode HTML: The IDN in HTML entity format (e.g.: probestück)
The .INFO registry allows IDN hostnames to be setup. The hostname portion is validated based on the IDN standards, however linguistic relevance (i.e.: the language tag) is not enforced at the hostname level. IDN hostnames are displayed only in Punycode through the Whois.
Yes. One of Afilias' founding principles as a technology provider is that we provide proven, standards-compliant service that will enhance the user experience, and not deviate from adopted standards. Our IDN solution will meet the ICANN guidelines and we will continue to work with local communities to ensure that our technology solution is relevant to the needs of the market.
The ICANN guidelines mainly address the following issues:
- That the registry be compliant with IDN technical standards
- That the registry, where appropriate, observe the additional prohibited character rules specified by ICANN
- That the registry require the registrant to announce the intended language / script of the domain registered
- That the registry roll-out IDN in a conservative manner with regards to linguistic complexity and work with local language authorities to determine appropriate registration policies
The .INFO registry first and foremost ensures standards compliant resolution of IDNs in the TLD-root name servers. Those using IDNA-compliant browsers (i.e.: IE 7, Netscape 7.1, Mozilla 1.4, Opera 7) are able to type in the encoded domain (e.g.: müller.info) into their browser, which will automatically convert the name into Punycode – the approved standard for converting IDNs into ASCII domains that can be looked up at the TLD nameserver
IDNs are available in a minimum of 1 year registration and a maximum of 10 year registration.
There has been a strong demand in the ICANN community for supporting an Internet that is not English-only. When the Internet was first developed, it was spearheaded by the US, and since then more and more countries have come online and adopted the Internet in mission-critical communications processes. Because of this, it is now time that the Internet expand with the overall globalization of the world's economy and offer improved solutions to non-English speakers.
.INFO is the only truly global gTLD. The abbreviated word INFO translates into many languages and as such has international meaning. Therefore it is only a natural extension of .INFO's international nature that we rollout IDNs to meet market demand.
