[Ian]

Until recently, all domain names had to be written in latin characters - even in countries using Arabic, Chinese and other scripts. For the first time, a new Arabic domain is available : .masr written in Arabic translates as .Egypt.

BBC News have more information:

Tarek Kamel said the new domain name would be ".masr" written in the Arabic alphabet. It translates as ".Egypt". "It is a great moment for us... The internet now speaks Arabic," Mr Kamel said.

Last month, internet regulator Icann voted to allow non-Latin web addresses. Domain names can now be written in Arabic, Chinese and other scripts. Mr Kamel, who was speaking at the start of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) being held in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, said a formal announcement would be made on Monday.

Registration for addresses with the .masr ending would begin at midnight (2200 GMT), he said.

Not sure what this actually means.

I assume that things will not be written in Arabic or Chinese characters otherwise we would not be able to type in web addresses.

So we simply type in .masr instead of .eg ( if that is correct for Egypt)?

Originally Posted by nivrip

Not sure what this actually means.

I assume that things will not be written in Arabic or Chinese characters otherwise we would not be able to type in web addresses.

So we simply type in .masr instead of .eg ( if that is correct for Egypt)?

Up until now evrything you typed in the address bar of your browser had to be typed using Latin Characters ( abcdefghi......) Now people in other countries will be able to use their own text/alphabet in the address bar..

Not more idea about this but quite sure that in all countries everyone should always have to type the website address in international language, instead of their country languages. This option may be configure if your current domain registrar are providing these type of services otherwise not..