The top-level domain (TLD) found as “xn—nqv7f’‘ is not your typical TLD like .com, .org or .net. This is an Internationalized Domain Name system (IDN) representation called Punycode. These domains include characters used in the local language of a specific region that are not part of the ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) character set used in English.
The IDN representation for “xn—nqv7f” is .非利士, which is a Chinese language top-level domain. The Romanization of this is “Fēi lì shì,’’ which translates to Philistine in English.
Punycode, developed by Adam M. Costello in 2003, is a method for encoding a sequence of Unicode characters into ASCII in a standard manner. This standard is outlined in “INTERNATIONALIZED DOMAIN NAMES FOR APPLICATIONS (IDNA)” hosted on IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) tools. It enabled internet users around the world to use domains in non-Roman scripts by encoding these characters in a format that the Domain Name System (DNS) could process. (source: IETF tools, www.ietf.org)
The “xn—” in “xn—nqv7f” is indicative of this being a Punycode domain. The characters following “xn—” are the encoded IDN that when decoded can be read in the local language (source: ICANN).
As of 2012, Chinese language TLDs are managed by CNNIC (China Internet Network Information Center). CNNIC is the administrative agency responsible for internet affairs under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People’s Republic of China (source: CNNIC). It is also noted on the ICANN organisation website that CNNIC were to manage IDN ccTLDs for China.
The adoption and use of IDN TLDs ultimately increases accessibility and usability of the internet. Non-English speakers can navigate the internet in their local languages, which makes the internet more inclusive. For instance, an average person in China, or someone who understands Chinese language TLDs, could easily recognize a .非利士 as a domain expansion.
In conclusion, the top-level domain (TLD) “xn—nqv7f’‘ refers to a Chinese language TLD, managed by CNNIC. The presence of such TLDs represents an attempt to make the internet more accessible and usable for non-English speakers on a global scale.
Sources used:
1. IETF Tools: www.tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3492
2. CNNIC: www.cnnic.net.cn/mainS/index/cnindex.html
3. ICANN: www.icann.org/news/announcement-2012-04-23-en
