SHARM El SHEIKH - With the launch of the Internationalized Domain Names (IDN) ccTLD Fast Track Process by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), Egyptian Minister of Communications Tarek Kamel revealed that Egypt will open the world's first Arabic language internet domain.

As of November 16, 2009, ICANN started to accept requests from representatives of countries and territories around the world for new Internet extensions that represent their country name and are made up of non-Roman characters.

Addressing the attendees at the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) being held November 15-18, 2009 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Minister Kamel said the new domain name would be ".misr" written in the Arabic alphabet, which is translated as ".Egypt".

"It is a great moment for us... The internet now speaks Arabic," he said.

The Minister believes that the new domain would allow for new means of innovation, investment and growth throughout the Arabic-speaking world.

Once the requests for IDN ccTLDs are evaluated and approved, Internet extensions are expected to come online in many countries during 2010.

Abu-Ghazaleh Intellectual Property (AGIP) Executive Director Charles Sha’ban, who is currently participating at the IGF sessions, expressed his satisfaction with this “historical moment” in the course of the internet.

“I believe it is truly a historical event that we are witnessing today. This is a dream that came true for all Non-English speakers across the globe,” Sha’ban said.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon renewed on May 6, 2009 the membership of AGIP in the IGF’s Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG) for the third consecutive year.

AGIP will also continue to play a significant role in this process through Talal Abu-Ghazaleh and Co. International Domains (TAG-Domains), a sister firm of AGIP and an ICANN accredited registrar.

“TAG-Domains will be one of the first registrars to provide Internet addresses in Arabic script,” Sha’ban added.

TAG-Domains was established to provide Arab and regional online businesses with a full range of domain name services, including domain registrations, renewals, and transfers.

TAG-Domains Executive Director Mahmoud Lattouf pointed out that TAG-Domains is also ready to help its clients register their brands under the Egypt IDN.

IDNs are domain names that include characters other than the currently available set of the English alphabet (the 26 letters "a-z", numbers 0 to 9, and hyphens).

ICANN Chairman Peter Dengate Thrush noted, “The IDN program will encompass close to one hundred thousand characters, opening up the Internet to billions of potential users around the globe.”

It’s important to note that ICANN will not accept direct registration applications for second-level domain names – the part before the Internet extension or suffix – from individuals, companies, or organizations. The ability for people to get a domain name in their language will come later – through a process determined by the entity that successfully applies for an IDN country-code top-level.

The IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process is available online now, including an online request form, a manual describing how to apply, a list of Frequently Asked Questions, ICANN’s final implementation plan, and brief history of the Fast Track process.