非拉丁語網絡域名獲批

The body in charge of assigning the world's Internet users their online addresses on Friday said it had agreed to allow the use of any of the world's scripts, no longer just the Latin alphabet.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which approved the change at a meeting in Seoul, said in a statement it could lead to a dramatic rise in the number of Internet users.

"This is only the first step, but it is an incredibly big one and an historic move toward the internationalization of the Internet," ICANN's President and CEO Rod Beckstrom was quoted as saying.

"We have just made the Internet much more accessible to millions of people in regions such as Asia, the Middle East and Russia."

The program will be rolled out in stages, starting November 16.

Initially, it will allow internationalized domain names (IDNs) using scripts such as Chinese, Korean or Arabic for the country code designators at the end of an address name.

Eventually, the use of IDNs will be expanded to all types of Internet address names.

ICANN was set up in 1998 and operated under the aegis of the U.S. Commerce Department. It decides what names can be added to the Internet's top level domains (TLDs) such as as well as country designations.

Last month, the U.S. government agreed to changes that in effect meant ICANN would no longer report solely to the United States.

負責向全世界的互聯網用戶分配在線地址的機構於上週五宣佈，已批准互聯網域名使用除拉丁語外的世界其它文字。

國際互聯網名稱與編號分配公司（ICANN）在首爾召開的一次會議上正式通過了這一改革方案。該機構在一份聲明中說，這一改變會引起互聯網用戶數量的激增。

ICANN總裁和首席執行官羅德•貝克斯特羅姆被援引稱：“這只是一個開端，但卻是極其重要的一步，是邁向互聯網國際化的歷史性之舉。”

“通過此舉，可以讓亞洲、中東和俄羅斯等地的廣大用戶更便捷地訪問互聯網。”

ICANN將於本月16日開始接受非拉丁域名的申請，並將分階段落實該計劃。

在最初階段，該機構將允許國際化域名在地址結尾使用用漢語、韓語或阿拉伯語表示的國家域名。

最終，所有的互聯網地址都可用這種方式來表示。

ICANN創立於1998年，受美國商務部管轄。該機構主要決定什麼名字可加入頂級域名，如和國家域名等。

上月，ICANN已獲准獨立於美國政府之外，不再受美國“獨家”控制。

Vocabulary:

roll out: to launch (a new film, product, etc.) in a series of stages over an area, each stage involving an increased number of outlets分階段展開

aegis: guidance, direction, or control 管制