مقالة للغرفة المصرية الامريكية

[Gee]

Perhaps the last major barrier to a fully Arabic Internet is the domain name system – traditionally the realm of English characters. As it stands, at least a basic familiarity with English characters is necessary to browse websites. However, the latest versions of web browsers such as Internet Explorer 7 beta and Firefox 1.5 make it possible to type in website addresses in non-English scripts including Arabic, Cyrillic and Chinese. These browsers have a built-in conversion tool that changes the non-English characters of so-called internationalized domain names (IDNs) into Punycode, an encoding system that lets browsers visually represent domain names in multilingual script.

One problem with IDNs is that top-level domains such as .com, .net and .org, or country codes such .us, .eg and .ae, must still be rendered in English characters. Several solutions have been proposed. The Arabic Domain Names Pilot Project, a collaboration between Arab League countries, has suggested Arabic equivalents of English domains, with .com and .net rendered as .shirka and .shabaka respectively, though in Arabic script. Another suggestion was to use single Arabic letters to designate top-level domains.

As the IDN system catches on, it seems likely that the domain-name buying frenzy that gripped the US in the late 1990s will migrate to the region. Already, there are signs of an impending bidding war over Arabic IDNs, as companies seek to secure coveted domain names. Domain name specialty sites such as idnforums.com and namepros.com buzz with offers to purchase or sell Arabic IDNs, though prices are nowhere near the level of their English counterparts, many of which fetch over $100,000.

One reason is the lower level of traffic Arabic IDNs attract, though this could soon change. “Once Internet Explorer 7.0 is released later this year, more people will have the capability to enter IDNs in their browsers and the revenue from parked sites will start increasing dramatically,” says David Wrixon, one of the world’s biggest international domain name speculators, whose London-based company, Chinese Domains Ltd., owns 4,000 IDNs including 500 Arabic-language domain names.

Wrixon explains that speculators target domain names with high advertising or resale potential. “People who speculate on domain names look for general terms that will drive up search results, or that future content-driven sites will want to purchase,” he says. Already, Wrixon’s portfolio includes the .com and .net addresses of 24 of the 28 letters of the Arabic alphabet, as well as the Arabic numerals 1-10 and many common Arabic words. “Short, easily rememberable domain names like these are brandable,” he explains. “They’re easy to remember and type in, and can be applicable to any industry or product.”

While he admits there is little demand for these domain names right now, that should change as the Arabic Internet matures. “Sites need to be developed to get the full benefit of these [IDNs], but will [eventually] be worth millions,” he says.

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