MIAMI, July 14, 2015 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — Do you know what Apple.LAT, Google.LAT and Facebook.LAT all have in common? They have all just purchased top-level domain .LAT, which specifically targets Latinos looking for a sense of virtual-belonging and networking opportunities within the Hispanic community. With .LAT, companies can obtain a space where they can connect with this powerhouse market, in addition to preventing domain hijackers and cybersquatting.

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Considering domain names are a representation of your virtual identity, a number of businesses are preventing criminals from cyber-attacking their brand and exploiting it for personal gain. In 2012, incidents of domain hijacking and related crimes – hacking, phishing and social engineering – increased by more than 42 percent, according to security-software company Symantec. Taking this into consideration, .LAT created the opportunity for brands to protect their trademarks, by including within its launch process, an exclusive phase that allowed brand owners to register the domains that matched their brands before registration was open to the general public.

Currently through August 1st, .LAT is going through the last phase of the launch process, so there is still an opportunity for brands to secure their trademarks. They can even purchase the generic name of the category of their service/product that would make an ideal complement to their domain portfolio. For example, cerveza.LAT, futbol.LAT, restaurants.LAT, etc.

“A company’s brand name is their most valuable asset. We are very excited that top global companies have purchased and continue to purchase .LAT to protect their brand identity,” says Anthony Harris, Founder of eCOM-LAC the Latin America and Caribbean Federation of Internet and Electronic Commerce. “In addition, they have opened the door to connect with one of the most diverse and powerful groups, U.S. Hispanics, that will account for 10.6 percent of total U.S buying power by 2019.”

Aside from establishing an online presence with Latin identity, .LAT makes communication between Latino users simple, as well as sharing new business ventures and creative ideas.

About .LAT
.LAT is the new Internet domain to enable individuals, organizations and causes to have an Internet presence with Latin identity. It is a join initiative by eCOM-LAC, the Latin America and Caribbean Federation for Internet and Electronic Commerce, and NIC Mexico. eCOM-LAC is based in Uruguay and is a not for profit entity that supports projects oriented to promote the use of TICs to reduce the digital gap in the region. NIC Mexico is in charge of running the .MX domain names, utilizing more than 20 years of experience to provide the back-end for .LAT, making it a 100% Latino initiative.

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Valerie Mesa
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Valerie.mesa@bm.com