Abstract: A system and method for storing and retrieving information based upon a string, where the string can be encoded in one of a variety of script encodings. The script encodings can be selected from a set of relevant encodings for the particular application. The system and method are designed to allow the use of legacy information indexed by keys encoded in a single script to merge or join with additional information indexed by keys encoded in multiple additional scripts. In addition, the system and method allow the migration of information from a single national script encoding to a multiple national script encodings or a universal script encoding. The system and method are further directed to an improved domain name system that allows the creation and operation of domain names in a plurality of national encodings and further includes methods for resolving ambiguous encodings.