Module Link: http://drupal.org/project/transliteration The Transliteration module takes UTF-8 characters and converts them down to ASCII so you don't get mangled file names or URLs.
Who: Technical and non-technical When: I use this module on all of my sites to prevent oddly named files from being uploaded. Where: This module mainly works with the CCK file field and Path Auto but it can be used by other modules. Why: Some browsers/operating systems have issues dealing with files that have non ASCII characters in the file name.