Internet Addresses Can Use New Scripts

By the middle of next year, Internet surfers will be allowed to use Web addresses written completely in Chinese, Arabic, Korean and other languages using non-Latin alphabets, the organization overseeing Internet domain names announced Friday in a decision that could make the Web more accessible.

In an action billed as one of the biggest changes in the Web's history, the board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers -- or Icann -- voted Friday during its annual meeting, held in Seoul, to allow such scripts in Internet addresses.