------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- From: David Goldstein <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: The Age - IT firm crashes the Net language barrier Hi APPLers A story from The Age (Melbourne) about Melbourne IT registering domain names using Chinese, Arabic and Japanese characters. Cheers David IT firm crashes the Net language barrier http://www.smh.com.au/news/0007/06/national/national08.html An Australian information technology firm has snared a new market worth millions by setting up the world's first one-stop shop to register Internet domain names using Chinese, Arabic and Japanese characters. Chinese names will be the first Internet addresses to be auctioned off by Melbourne IT, starting in four weeks. Other languages such as Tamil will follow. The registration of Internet domain names in Chinese has a potential customer base in the billions and opens a gateway to the lucrative and populous non-English-speaking Internet community. Investors immediately rejoiced in Melbourne IT's foreign foray, sending the stock up by $1.30 to a high of $10.20. Melbourne IT shares eventually ended 20c stronger at $9.10. Until now, people who wanted to register Internet domain names needed a basic understanding of Roman script. But Melbourne IT has negotiated a licensing deal with the Singapore-based i-DNS Technology, which has developed a system allowing computers to read non-Roman characters. Melbourne IT will sell the new names through its Internet Names WorldWide division. The company's next goal is to offer a suite of Internet names using numerous European languages, with French, Italian and Spanish addresses to be ready in six months. Internet Names WorldWide's general manager, Mr Clive Flory, said the product would be popular with individuals and businesses who wanted Internet addresses in their native language. "The potential is huge," he said. "We are looking at the birth of the first truly international Internet community where language is no longer a barrier." Melbourne IT, an offshoot company set up by the University of Melbourne, recorded the second-biggest stag rise in the Australian Stock Exchange's history in 1999 when it floated at $8.20 - more than 270 per cent above its offer price of $2.20. During the dot-com boom last year, its shares went as high as $17. The company registered 300,000 names in the three months to March, and Mr Flory said the demand from Chinese and other non-English customers could match that. "Internet Names WordWide has a unique opportunity to be involved at the early stages of what promises to be a rapid expansion of Internet adoption by the non-English-speaking world," he said. The Age ===== David Goldstein Schallmooser Haupstr. 40/3 A-5020 Salzburg Austria email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] phone: +43 699 1097 6197 (mobile) - Philippine Linux Users Group. Web site and archives at http://plug.linux.org.ph To leave: send "unsubscribe" in the body to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
