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VeriSign First to Offer Domain Names in Character Sets in Over 350 Languages
Registrar customers now able to name Web sites in languages from Azerbaijani to Zulu
Mountain View, CA, April 20, 2001 - VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN), the leading provider of Internet trust services, today announced that its Registrar has begun accepting Domain Name registrations in more than 180 new languages, bringing the total number of languages in which Domain Names can be registered to more than 350. This advance, which marks the largest expansion of the multilingual offering ever undertaken, allows companies and individuals worldwide to register Domain Names in languages such as Arabic, Hebrew, Hindi, Thai and Urdu. Multilingual Domain Names in these languages and hundreds of others can now be registered at http://global.networksolutions.com.
Hundreds of thousands of Multilingual Domain Names have been registered with the VeriSign Global Registry Services Testbed since it opened on November 10, 2000. Although resolution of Multilingual Domain Names is still pending (see "An Important Note About the Multilingual Testbed" at the end of this release), the new Domain Names are already popular with businesses and individuals that expect to build commercial or personal sites for non-English speaking audiences, and with U.S. companies registering the phonetic equivalents of their business names overseas. While most commercial sites on the Internet today cater to English speakers, the balance is expected to shift in the near future. Analyst firm GlobalSight estimates that non-English speakers will make up two-thirds of all Internet users by 2003.
"The Internet is still in its early stages as a communications tool," said Doug Wolford, senior vice president and general manager, Web Presence Services, VeriSign. "By making it easier for people around the world to use the Internet in their own language, we have taken a huge step towards making it a truly global medium."
Prior to the opening of the Multilingual Testbed, Domain Names could only consist of digits and letters from the Roman alphabet. This restriction forced non-English speakers to register domain names based on phonetic approximations or the nearest Roman equivalent. With today's announcement, VeriSign's Registrar now offers Domain Names in languages used by approximately 80 percent of the world's population - and continues to deliver upon the VeriSign mission of enabling everyone, everywhere, to use the Internet with confidence.
VeriSign's Registrar has established relationships with leading companies throughout the world to provide customers with a global network of Web identity services and support. To learn more about registering a Multilingual Domain Name, visit http://global.networksolutions.com. For information on becoming a partner, email partnerprogram@netsol.com.
An Important Note About the Multilingual Testbed
Multilingual Domain Names are being offered as part of a trial period
or "testbed." Resolution of Multilingual Domain Names has
not yet occurred, and, although anticipated at a later stage of the
testbed, cannot be guaranteed. Future changes in Multilingual Domain
Name technology standards may invalidate some of the names registered
during the testbed. For additional important information you should
know about Multilingual Domain Names, please visit http://www.verisign-grs.com/multilingual/multilingual.html.
About VeriSign
VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) is the leading provider of trusted infrastructure
services to Web sites, enterprises, electronic commerce service providers
and individuals. The company's Domain Name, digital certificate and
payment services provide the critical Web identity, authentication and
transaction infrastructure that online businesses require to conduct
secure e-commerce and communications. VeriSign's services are available
through its Web sites (www.verisign.com
and www.networksolutions.com)
or through its direct sales force and reseller partners around the world.
Statements in this announcement other than historical data and information constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, potential volatility in VeriSign's stock price, uncertainty of Internet privatization, increased competition in the domain name registration business including price competition, customer acceptance of new products and services offered by the company in addition to or as enhancements of its registration services, risks associated with the company's international business, uncertainty of future revenue and profitability and fluctuations in its quarterly operating results. More information about potential factors that could affect the company's business and financial results is included in VeriSign's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, especially in the company's Registration Statement on Form S-4 filed on April 12, 2000, as amended, Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2000.
VeriSign is a registered trademark of VeriSign, Inc. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.