ICANN oublishes new rules to expand internet domain names in more languages and scripts
This work is developed by community-based ‘Generation Panels,’ groups of experts and stakeholders from each script community, and is finalised through ICANN’s public consultation process. More scripts are expected to be added in future versions as proposals are completed.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has released Version 6 of the Root Zone Label Generation Rules (RZ-LGR-6) and the Maximal Starting Repertoire (MSR-6), marking an important step in making internet domain names available in a wider range of languages and writing systems.
The Root Zone Label Generation Rules (RZ-LGR) set the technical standards that define which domain name labels are valid in the root zone of the Domain Name System (DNS). They also establish how variant labels – alternative spellings or forms of the same script – can be used. These rules are essential for ensuring that top-level domains (the endings of web addresses, such as .com or .org) can be created and used securely in different scripts around the world.
The Maximal Starting Repertoire (MSR) provides the base set of characters from which communities working on different writing systems can propose new rules. Version 6 of the MSR incorporates updates from Unicode version 11.0 to version 16.0, as well as revisions to Arabic, Ethiopic, Khmer, and Tibetan scripts.
The updated RZ-LGR-6 integrates the Thaana script, used in the Maldives, following its completion by the Thaana script community. It also introduces additional updates for Devanagari, Bengali (Bangla), Khmer, and Japanese scripts. In total, RZ-LGR-6 now supports 28 scripts, including Arabic, Chinese, Cyrillic, Greek, Hebrew, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Tamil, Thai, and others.
This work is developed by community-based ‘Generation Panels,’ groups of experts and stakeholders from each script community, and is finalised through ICANN’s public consultation process. More scripts are expected to be added in future versions as proposals are completed.
By expanding the range of supported scripts, ICANN aims to make the global internet more inclusive, allowing users to access domain names in their native languages and scripts while maintaining stability and security in the DNS.
