The top-level domain (TLD) “xn—czr694b” corresponds to the domain from the series of alphanumeric characters generated via Punycode. Punycode is a unique method of encoding the domain names to be displayed in ASCII characters (American Standard Code for Information Interchange). There are Unicode and ASCII versions for most of the internationalized domain names (IDNs). XN—CZR694B is one of the IDN TLDs.
Punycode is typically used to convert a domain name that contains non-English, special characters, or symbols that don’t exist in ASCII into a browser-friendly version that uses ASCII to represent those characters. This is particularly integral to maintaining the global scale of the Internet while accommodating all languages and scripts.
The domain “xn—czr694b” is intended for Chinese-language Hong Kong businesses, as indicated by the .商标 TLD. In English, .商标 is translated as “.trademark”. This Punycode domain name is assigned and regulated by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC).
CNNIC, the operating entity of national top-level domain names such as “.cn” and “.中国”, is the entity responsible for handling these domains. They aim to adopt the global internet norms while simultaneously operating under the authority of the Chinese government, following their regulations and policies. Hence, the .商标 domain is primarily used by businesses physically located in or predominantly catering to the Chinese market.
Through Punycode, businesses and individuals can use their native language to represent their websites, providing them with the possibility to connect with their local audience more effectively and authentically. This global integration allows every language and script to be equally represented some examples of IDNs could be “münchen” (xn—mnchen-3ya.de) a German city, or “россия” (xn—h1alffa9f.xn—p1ai) which means Russia in Russian.
However, a thing to note about these Punycode domains is they are often associated with phishing or cyber-attacks as they can commonly be mistaken for standard domain names, known as homograph attacks. Therefore, while using these Punycode domains, internet users should be extra cautious.
Sources:
1. Network Working Group. (2003). “RFC 3492 – Punycode: A Bootstring encoding of Unicode for Internationalized Domain Names in Applications (IDNA)” (https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3492.txt)
2. China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) website (http://www1.cnnic.cn/)
3. Xudong Zheng’s Blog: “Phishing with Unicode Domains” (https://www.xudongz.com/blog/2017/idn-phishing/)
