How did Internationalized Domain Names come about?
i-DNS.net trail-blazed the development of Internationalized Domain Names when it developed the Internationalized Domain Name System (i-DNS), technology that empower people anywhere to navigate the Internet in any language. Prior to iDNS, there was no technology that can accommodate non-English web and email addresses. iDNS began as an academic project in early 1998. The idea was first mooted by Dr. Tan Tin Wee, then Chairman of the Asia Pacific Networking Group (APNG; http://www.apng.org), and currently interim CEO and founding member of the Multilingual Internet Names Consortium (MINC). It was believed that the availability of domain names in local languages and scripts would facilitate the intuitive use of the Internet among an increasing online population of non-English speaking users. A working prototype was developed and intensively test-bedded over a 6-month period, involving the Network Information Centres (NICs) of various Asian countries, including Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan,
