AGIP & TAG-Domains Contribute in Internationalizing the Web

AMMAN - Abu-Ghazaleh Intellectual Property (AGIP) highly commended the decision of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in approving the new Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) Fast Track Process.As the representative of the Intellectual Property (IP) community, Charles Sha’ban, AGIP executive director was one of the original members of the Internationalized Domain Names Working Group (IDNC WG) who contributed in drafting the June 2008 report on ccTLDs "Fast Track" Mechanisms.“After years of intensive work and deliberations, AGIP is proud to be part of this international achievement which will make the Internet more global and accessible,” Sha’ban said.According to ICANN Chairman Peter Dengate Thrush “the Fast Track Process is the first step in bringing the 100,000 characters of the languages of the world online for domain names.”The proposed launch date for the IDN ccTLDs Fast Track Process is November 16, 2009. It will allow nations and territories to apply for Internet extensions reflecting their name – and made up of characters from their national language.“AGIP will also continue to play a significant role in this process through TAG-Domains, a sister firm of AGIP and an ICANN accredited registrar. TAG-Domains will be one of the first registrars to provide Internet addresses in Arabic script,” Mahmoud Lattouf, TAG-Domains executive director added.TAG-Domains was established to provide Arab and regional online businesses with a full range of domain name services, including domain registrations, renewals, and transfers.The IDNs have been a topic of discussion since before ICANN's inception. It's taken years of intense technical testing, policy development, and global co-operation to prepare the Fast Track process for its coming launch.ICANN is responsible for the global coordination of the Internet's system of unique identifiers like domain names (like .org, .museum and country codes like .uk) and the addresses used in a variety of Internet protocols that help computers reach each other over the Internet.