i-DNS.net was set up in October 1999 with support and funding from US-based private equity direct investment firm, General Atlantic Partners LLC. As the pioneer of i-DNS (Internationalized Domain Name System) technology and the leading global provider of multilingual Internet solutions, i-DNS.net is able to support up to 55 major non-English languages – including Chinese, Arabic, Spanish, Japanese, Tamil, Thai and Hebrew – covering almost 90 percent of the non-English speaking population worldwide. i-DNS technology is a product of almost two years’ research and development in the National University of Singapore under the auspices of the Asia Pacific Networking Group (APNG).
The company has set up representative offices in countries such as Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, India, the US and Singapore, and currently has a registry of more than 100,000 companies or organisations, including Yahoo!, Bank of China, Sony and Cathay Pacific Airlines.
To demonstrate the true capability of multilingual international domain names and to contribute to the enhancement of China’s traditional culture, i-DNS.net also announced that it would present the first three multilingual international domain names in China to “Chinaxiangsheng.net,” which has been established by Chinese Cross Talk Artists.
Cross-talk, which is unique to Chinese tradition and culture, is a performance art form consisting of witty repartee between specially-trained performers. Two of the domain names will be given to Jiang Kun and Da Shan, two of China’s most popular and highly respected cross talk artistes. Da Shan also has the distinct honor of being one of the few foreigners – a Canadian – who have a deep understanding and appreciation of Chinese culture.
With over 68 percent of the world’s population being non-native English speakers, i-DNS.net hopes to bridge the gap that has previously hindered Internet access by such users, and allows them to master and leverage upon valuable Internet resources.
Mr. Sun Zhengquan, General Manager of Guangdong Tekson Industry Co. Ltd., said, “We are confident that the promotion of the “Chinese International Domain Names” will be successful in China.”
“With the increasing number of Asian netizens, especially the amongst the non-English speaking population, this service comes at an opportune moment to help attract more people to share Internet resources. Most importantly, China’s large and medium-sized enterprises can now use Chinese to register their corporate domain names to maximize the business opportunities available in the fast growing e-commerce market and stay competitive. The promotion of ‘Tiantian.net’ by the company will provide efficient Chinese domain name registration services for Chinese netizens and enterprises,” he added.
Because i-DNS technology is compatible with the current Domain Name System (DNS) used by the English Internet, users can access any registered multilingual domain name from anywhere in the world. i-DNS technology is also compatible with various software platforms, such as Windows, UNIX, Linux, etc. It also supports all-Chinese email and can automatically convert from traditional to simple Chinese font and vice versa.
Mr Michael Ng, CEO of i-DNS.net International, said, “We are extremely pleased to witness the launch of a global multilingual domain name solution in China today with Guangdong Tekson Industry Co. Ltd. The Internet can finally be accessed on equal terms, even in areas where English is not comfortably used. Multilingual domain names will definitely enhance the Internet-surfing experience for Chinese users the world over.”
Internet operators have indicated that the capability to use multilingual domain names will have a significant impact on the popularity of the Internet in China. Easier accessibility means that e-commerce can better permeate the lives of the everyday consumer.
It is said that even the current estimation of 9 million Internet users worldwide pales in comparison to the potential of China’s 1 billion plus population.
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