Multilingual domain names

Use of multilingual domain names

[holzmichel]

Everywhere you can register multilingual domain names, e.g. in Japan.
I recognized that the use is restricted. Do anybody knows, if there are plans that such names can be used worldwide in the near future?

How exactly can you use this names already?
Do you think it is useful to register such japanese domain names? What are the advantages or disadvantages?

[davezan]

You may be referring to "Country Code Top-Level Domains" (ccTLDs), if not multilingual.

ccTLDs are restricted only to their country of origin, based on agreements between
ICANN and the country in question. They can only be registered if you have an address
in that country, but the domain name extension can be viewed around the world.

[Edwin]

It's unlikely that multilingual domains will work worldwide, since they require a plugin compatible with that language's version of IE (don't think they work with other browsers).

Japanese multilingual domains certainly don't work abroad AFAIK, and they don't work for many people in Japan either!

[rfgdxm1]

>ccTLDs are restricted only to their country of origin, based on agreements between
ICANN and the country in question. They can only be registered if you have an address
in that country, but the domain name extension can be viewed around the world.

This isn't true for quite a few ccTLDs. .ws is the most well known of these, but there are a number of other ccTLDs that anyone can buy.

[PatrickDeese]

I had a client that insisted on registering a domain name with the Spanish N tilde(~) and the real problem was that the domain was really BR5r4e556.com or somesuch, but if you had the special browser plugin you'd get to see the "real domain".

Not many people have that plugin, and the SE's don't index it anyhow.

even CNN's spanish domain is "misspelled" - CNNenEspanol.com

[bill]

I can't add much more than what has already been said...essentially multilingual domain names [google.com] or native language domain names [google.com], whichever you prefer to call them, aren't ready for global use yet. The short answer is, don't bother with them.