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Cyrillic Web Domains are Coming?

Originally published by "dbarker" on 2009-12-22 16:49:00Z

Russians Wary of Cyrillic Web Domains : The Russian government is upset that domain names are in Latin characters only.

The Russian government, as a result, is taking the lead in a landmark shift occurring around the world to allow domain names in languages with non-Latin alphabets.

Not everyone wants a change, mainly because they fear the ability of the Russian government to segregate them based on domain name:

[…] computer users are worried that Cyrillic domains will give rise to a hermetic Russian Web, a sort of cyberghetto, and that the push for Cyrillic amounts to a plot by the security services to restrict access to the Internet.

Is it odd that the DNS system is Latin only?  My Euro-centrism has prevented me from ever thinking about it, I guess.

Comment by "JJ" on 2009-12-22 08:12:00Z
This is why a lot of domain names in Asia have numbers in them, so it's easier to remember. Or instead of a domain name it's the company's name inside a "search box." The only country in Asia that I've seen really use their native characters in domain names in ads is Korea.
Comment by "Laser Printer Cartridge Specialist" on 2009-12-22 11:27:00Z
I respect any country's right to use their native characters. But then, the internet is about exposure to the world. Isn't doing so, defeats the purpose of being exposed worldwide? It just so happen that latin characters are globally accepted that it is the one being used. Maybe they should use a program/application that translates that domain into latin characters automatically for the sake of the rest of internet users around the world. Just my thoughts.