Multilingual domain names ready to go?

[bill]

According to this article [msnbc.com] on MSNBC multilingual domain names are ready for introduction. Has anyone else seen information on this. It has been my understanding that this would not be possible without adding software to individual PCs so that the names would resolve ala RealNames. Have they somehow figured out how to work through encoding problems and all of the overlapping Chinese characters that are used in China, Japan and Korea? I was under the impression that multilingual domains would be many years off due to all of the inherent problems. It's surprising to read now that they could be ready within the next few weeks.

[craig1972]

have u seen this bill?
[unicodedn.com...]

[bill]

craig1972 I've seen that and similar systems offered by registrars for a while now. The problem is that you have to have special software to get the DNS to resolve. I've started several threads about this in the Asia Pacific Forum [webmasterworld.com], and have yet to hear of a solution to this problem. Even the site you linked to requires extra software...

Multi-lingual Domain Resolution
You can use either Asian Explorer (by NJStar Software) or iClient (by i-DNS.net) to resolve multilingual domain names.

I wonder if ICANN is just blowing more smoke. Right now a multi lingual domain name is about as useful as those alternative domains put out by New.net. The search engines can't/won't index them and their value is extremely questionable due to the added software requirement.