Domain names with Chinese characteristics

By Zhao Qian

Now that the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has allowed the use of Chinese characters in domain names, chances to make a quick yuan are just a click away.

The China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) began submitting requests to ICANN for domain names with the suffix ".中国"(China) in Chinese characters Monday.

Any individuals, institutions and companies can register the domain names in Chinese, with the cost ranging from 200 yuan ($29.31) to 400 yuan annually, and they are granted to use these domain names for up to 10 years.

"Those Chinese domain names can be used in 2010 by the public, after a series of technical tests,"Wang Dong, an advisor to the CNNIC, said Tuesday.

"This move will open up the Internet to a whole new generation of older users who cannot read English,"Zhang Gang, an analyst from Analysys International, a company that consults on technology, media and telecom industries, said Tuesday.

"Thousands of small- and medium-sized companies whose e-commerce business is concentrated in China will benefit a lot through registering Chinese domain names,"Zhang said, adding that some companies who offer domain name registration services will have huge business potentials.

"This move will increase China's influence in the international Internet industry,"Wang of CNNIC said.

"The move could also improve China's Internet ability to self-regulate,"Wang added.

Since most foreigners cannot type characters, however, there is not much of a possibility that the domain names will get hits abroad, Zhang said.

On the day that the CNNIC submitted requests to the ICANN, organizations and individuals rushed to register Chinese domain names.

Even some celebrities' names, like Jay Chou, a famous pop star, have already been registered.

More than 90 percent of government departments, over 95 percent of media websites, no less than 90 percent of major universities, and more than 50 percent of the top 100 Chinese companies have already registered Chinese domain names, according to data on CNNIC's website.

And Wang of CNNIC said that some companies who offer domain name registration services will stockpile domain names with high commercial value, and then sell them later at a premium.

Zhang of Analysys International said that monitoring of domain name registration was necessary to prevent copyright infringement.

Wang commented that many related regulations still have not been formulated.

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