ICANN has selected Sydney as the venue for their June 2009 meeting that they expect around 1,700 experts from around the world to discuss issues regarding the future of the Internet such as new gTLDs, internationalised domain names and the security of the DNS."The meeting will be a first for Sydney and will attract experts from around the world, including inventors of the Internet, to discuss issues dealing with the future of the expansion of the Internet," said Paul Levins ICANN's Executive Officer and Vice President Corporate Affairs.
"Both the Prime Minister and the NSW Premier wrote in support of Sydney" he said.
"One of the major issues to be discussed will be the likely massive expansion of the Internet's 'real estate' that could allow for new domain name extensions such as .Paris, .nyc (New York City), .berlin and maybe even .Sydney."
Australia has one of the highest registration rates of domain names in the world.
The introduction of IDNs is a major achievement for the Internet. Of the 1.5 billion people who access the Internet, the vast majority use a language that is not English. With the introduction of IDNs the linguistic diversity of the Internet will grow to reflect the languages of the world's 1.5 billion Internet users.
They will be able to use their own language when accessing the Internet through typing in a domain name. That could lead to all kinds of innovation in the way that people express themselves and sell goods on the Internet.
Australia's proximity to the Asia-Pacific and its linguistic and cultural diversity will ensure this region's strong involvement on IDNs, as well as other issues to be discussed.
David Goldstein