Internet addresses to accept Chinese script

(AP) -- Chinese speakers will soon be able to tap out Internet addresses in their own language after the agency that runs Internet addresses says it will start accepting Chinese script for domain names.

Until recently, the suffix - the ".com" part of an address - had to use English characters, even though Chinese characters have sometimes been allowed for the rest of the Internet address.

ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, agreed in a Friday meeting to start using Chinese characters for suffixes handed out by Chinese, Hong Kong and Taiwan-based Internet registries. It started allowing Arabic earlier this year.