In Canada, .ca is replacing .com
I spent a few days in Canada recently and was struck but how many billboards, newspapers, and web sites prominently displayed .ca instead of .com. I started writing down every …
Country Codes
Where is China’s fast-track IDN?
In January of this year, ICANN announced that four fast-track IDNs had made it through linguistic approval — effectively clearing the way for commercialization. Oddly missing from that list was …
ICANN and the Internet ecosystem
Last month, Rod Beckstrom, President of ICANN, spoke at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Here’s the video. It’s a great introduction to how ICANN has evolved and where …
Bangladesh applies for an IDN
Seventeen countries have applied for IDNs so far, but we only know the details on four of them: Saudi Arabia (SA): السعودية Egypt (EG): مصر United Arab Emirates (AE): امارات …
The first of the fast-track IDNs
ICANN shed some light on its fast-track application process today, announcing the first four countries to pass the string evaluation of the process. Here they are: Saudi Arabia (SA): السعودية …
The world’s most dangerous country codes
If you want to know the world’s most dangersous ccTLDs, ask an anti-virus software company. McAfee has released its list of most dangerous country codes. Here are the top five: …
The most popular posts of 2009
With a few hours to spare, here are the most popular blog posts of 2009, based on number of visitors: The rise of “international” English — otherwise known as American …
Google goes to Greenland to shorten your URL
Just what the world needs — two more URL shorteners. Google now has goo.gl. And Facebook has FB.me. But Google’s URL jumps out at me because it marks the first …
Most British web users prefer .uk (says UK registrar)
Nominet, the UK registrar, published the results of a poll that found: More than three-quarters (77%) of British consumers prefer to use a .uk rather than a .com when searching …
IDN application update: Egypt, Russia, China…
So who’s applied for IDNs so far? According to ICANN, 10 applications (representing five languages) were submitted over the first four days. ICANN won’t announce exactly who applied and for …
Country Codes of the European Union
I’m pleased to announce a new country codes map, this one devoted to the 27 members of the European Union. The ccTLDs are sized according to population and to the …
A fantast.ic new country code
Last week I wrote about the coming of IDNs (internationalized domain names). But IDNs aren’t the only new country codes to keep your eyes on. There is also the occasional …
ICANN is now accepting IDN applications
It’s now November the 16th in Asia, which means the “Fast Track” has begun. Here’s the process: The Fast Track process is only for ccTLDs and only for those countries …
Meet the next generation of country codes
So now that the media hype over internationalized domain names (IDNs) has died down, let’s focus on the messy details of what this all means. First of all, we’re not …
The IDN media deluge begins
ICANN has been talking about IDNs for years. For that matter, so have I. So I half-expected a “boy that cried wolf” scenario to play out when ICANN finally did …