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.
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