Internationalizing the Internet's Domain Name System
Internet does not just connect machines but also billions of people around the world communicating a multitude of languages and scripts. For connecting these people effectively, a mechanism was needed for the Internet’s Domain Name System (DNS) to support labels in these different languages and scripts they speak and write. Therefore, Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) developed the protocol to allow for Internationalized Domain Names (IDN) in Applications 2008 (IDNA2008: see RFCs 5890-93) based on the Unicode standard. Where IDNs make the DNS more accessible for users, IDNs could also increase the possibility of confusion among domain labels for these users due to a much larger character-set allowed. IDNA2008 itself asks for additional measures to address these challenges. For this purpose, ICANN has supported the communities using the different scripts encoded in the Unicode to develop Label Generation Rules (LGRs). These rules go beyond the specifications in the Unicode and IDNA2008, to balance both security and usability aspects of using Unicode-based labels in the different languages and scripts. The session will explain the technical challenges faced for the different scripts to develop “unique” labels, and discuss the solutions implemented which balance the security and usability needs of the communities using the domain labels.