More and more registries allow the registration of domain names with local language characters such as German umlaut characters (“ä”, “ö”, and “ü”). These domain names are called “Internationalized Domain Names” (IDN).

“i18n” is an abbreviation for “internationalization”. Some lazy technicians came up with this short form because they didn't want to type the long word all the time. So only the first and the last character remained while the number “18” replaces the 18 characters omitted in the middle.

 

With IDN it is possible to register domain names with, for example, german umlaut characters. Besides .de domain names, local language characters can be used in .com, .net, .org, .info and .biz domain names.

It's understood that with Knipp you are in the front line from the very beginning. And what is best of all: at Knipp, the prices for domains with special characters are not higher than those for the registration of conventional domain names.

Further top level domains will follow. However, for most top level domains, no binding time schedule has been announced yet. You can find more information on the status of internationalization for various top level domains in our overview.

It is common practice that the assignment of domain names follows a scheme that privileges early requests.

We have therefore provided our customers with preregistration systems in good time before the introduction of new characters, in which they could place their domain requests free of charge. Punctually with the beginning of the online registration, we have sent the requests in our queue to the registry and have thereby increased the chances for an assignment of these domains. This is a service that we will offer our customers in the future, too, when further character-set expansions take place.

Additionally, we provide you with questions and answers on IDN, explanations on the technical background, and a conversion tool.