The National University of Singapore has incorporated a spin-off company, i-dns.com International ("the company"), to provide a service which enables users to register Internet domain names in various languages. Presently, domain names are only registrable using the 26 letters of the English alphabet. Professor Hang Chang Chieh, the University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor, said that the objective of introducing of multi-lingual domain name registration was to "unleash the potential of e-commerce to the non-English speaking countries".

The new system will make registration of domain names in other languages such as Chinese, Korean, Thai, Yiddish, Tamil and Hindu possible. This would enable the world’s non-English speaking population to access the Internet – (estimated at 68% of the world population).

The interim chief executive officer of the company is Mr. John Wong, a partner in General Atlantic Partners ("GAP"), a US-based private equity investment firm which has invested in software and IT startups for the past 19 years. GAP is currently helping the company to expand globally, having reportedly invested $4 million so far.

The company is also negotiating with overseas Internet Service Providers to provide the multilingual domain name service to their subscribers.

When questioned if cybersquatting, an oft-litigated issue in the United States, would be a problem, Mr. Wong said that the company would alert the major companies and invite them to register in the various foreign languages first. This would prevent third parties from registering and hoarding any of the major names or brand names for sale to the respective parties later.

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