You can now register the .EC domain extension from the Republic of Ecuador. After .CO (Colombia) and .PE (Peru), it is the third TLD (top-level domain) from the northwest of South America in our ever growing list of domains at iWantMyName.

While the .EC web address is mainly used within the country itself, registration is open for businesses, organizations and private persons worldwide. This makes .EC an attractive domain for URL shorteners or vanity domains. New registrations and transfers for the Ecudorian TLD are available at an introductory price of $79.00 USD. Get started and purchase your own .EC domain name today!

This week sees the start of the Chinese or Lunar New Year with 2012 being a "most auspicious" year of the dragon. There's no denying that China remains an economic juggernaut and despite the uncertain global economic outlook, growth is expected to exceed 8% this year. So what is the best way for companies trading there to build a secure web profile?

There are two considerations for businesses wishing to set up a web presence in China or other Chinese speaking markets. Firstly, what are safe domains to use? The .cn domain is a well established domain with over 3 million (mostly domestic) users, but which is under the strict control of the government Information Ministry. We have chosen not to offer the .cn domain at this time.

Many companies outside China however are making use of the .asia domain which is a completely independent domain that became available in 2008 and has almost 200,000 registrants around the Asia-Pacific region. Because .asia is a relatively young registry, there remains the opportunity to secure some good quality domains. Another U.S. based registry that we recommend is the cn.com domain which we are currently offering at a huge discount.

The second consideration is language. Internationalized domain names (IDN) have arrived and you can now have your favorite domain in non-Latin scripts - example 幸运的红龙.com. IDNs are available across a limited (but growing) number of the most popular registries. If you have a non-English brand name that you wish to promote, this is a great way to go.

Led by major Internet sites such as Reddit and Wikipedia, January 18th is now shaping up as a major online protest event aimed at raising public awareness regarding the highly controversial Stop Online Piracy (SOPA) bill that is before the U.S. congress at present.

Enacting SOPA in its current form will undoubtedly have major implications for Internet companies globally. It could also potentially crush freedom and innovation on the Web through draconian measures designed to promote a "shoot first, ask questions later" approach to addressing content piracy. That is why we recently invited domain owners to Make A Move For Good away from fat cat companies that were backing SOPA.

The consumer backlash against SOPA stopped some of its corporate sponsors dead in their tracks, proving that Internet activism really can make a difference. But the war is not yet won. In fact it is feared that supporters of the bill such as media dinosaur Rupert Murdoch and his powerful friends in the motion picture industry are scrambling to mount an orchestrated counter-attack. It is important to show that we don't want an Internet censored by governments at the behest of corporate lobbyists.

You can show your support for the blackout in many ways. Firstly (and most importantly) blog about it and share opinions and discussion widely through social media as well as offline. Secondly, you may wish to add an image to your site supporting the protest. Our friends over at web optimizer Torbit have created a nifty Javascript popup that does exactly that. Be informed and keep on fighting.

Wilkommen Bienvenido 欢迎光临  Kia Ora Velkommen Namastey Добро пожаловать Selamat Datang Bienvenue Welcome!

After a busy New Year period, iWantMyName welcomes all new customers and recent arrivals. 2011 ended with some political fireworks in the domain industry as the world's largest domain registrar attempted to recover from the crisis arising from its support of the misguided SOPA legislation. For many registrants it was the last straw after years of poor service and painful image blunders. The result was a flood of customers initiating domain transfers in protest.

As a relatively new player in the market (3 years now!) we were thrilled to see lots of enthusiastic testimonials flying around the Interwebs, with our existing customers heartily recommending iWantMyName to their friends. We even got a mention in Mashable's article detailing how to move your domains - a nice acknowledgement. So, thanks everyone for your continued support.

This year we've got big plans with new additions to our app marketplace, improvements to domain search functionality and some feature redesigns as we look towards the introduction of new generic top level domains. Onwards and upwards into 2012!

So you've decided to join the movement against your old fashioned, SOPA-loving (or not loving, or maybe loving), redneck domain registrar — but are not quite sure how to transfer your precious domains. Never fear, we've created a special automatic domain transfer service just for you. iWantMyName aims to make domain management painless, simply fill out the form and let us deal with all the messy details.

Unfortunately transferring a domain from one registrar to another is not always a straightforward exercise. However, our team of industry veterans are expert in untangling red tape and solving life's little administrative problems. Provided you are willing to supply us with access to your existing account, we can handle everything for you. That leaves you more time to spend enjoying your holidays!

What can we do for you? First we will send you a quote for the cost of transfer (you get a 12 month extension with each transfer). Once you agree to the quote, we contact your existing registrar and gain all the required codes and permissions to make the transfer of your domains. Of course we will also migrate any DNS settings, so you get a completely seamless changeover. We've included a detailed FAQ on our domain transfer page in case you have any questions or concerns.

Remember, at iWantMyName we will never try to up-sell you with stuff you don't need, plus we make domain and DNS management a breeze with our clean dashboard and simple one-click DNS set-up on your favourite hosted apps. Want to find out more? Here are some testimonials from our many happy customers. Welcome to the movement!

We're starting a movement and here's why.

It's hard to believe that 2011 is already drawing to a close and even if you don't celebrate Christmas in your household, you are probably finding yourself swept up in the "spirit of Christmas" as we stumble headlong towards the holidays. Here's some digital gift giving solutions to make your Christmas go off with a bang.

Studies have shown that kids spend 96% of their waking hours bug eyed in front of a computer screen these days, so base your gift purchasing decisions around feeding their online addiction. You'll instantly become their favorite aunt/uncle whilst saving your shoe leather from miles of exhausting mall marching. SmallWorlds and Minimonos are fantastic, safe browser based games that have millions of teenage players globally. Set up a funky game character and drop some credits on the account for in-game purchasing of digital merchandise. For young readers and learners, check out 8Interactive's outstanding talking books on both iOS and Android. Great distractions for long car trips and waiting at the doctor for inoculations.

For adult friends and family what could be more personal than a new domain name managed right here at iWantMyName? Traditionally, most new family blogs are set up over the holidays when Mom & Dad are busy snapping photographs. So it's a great time to give away a domain name Christmas present. Got friends or family setting up a small business? Grab an appropriately branded domain and get them set up online with all the best business apps. Remember we offer almost 100 different domain extensions to choose from and easy one-click DNS setup for the best hosted apps.

After the gifts are revealed and everyone's feeling a little fatigued from too much egg nog and brandy infused Christmas pudding, grab your favorite web device and escape to a quiet spot for some online Christmas entertainment. We heartily recommend Gizmodo for irreverent (and sometimes mildly disturbing) holiday reading for geeks. Gizmodo is the home of the Lego Yoda Santa, so it must be cool.

Have a safe and happy festive season everyone!

We're excited to release a new version of the iWantMyName domain search today. During 2011 we've been paying a lot of attention to all the great feedback we've been getting from you about our service. Over the last few weeks we've worked really hard to implement some new ideas on the site that we think you'll love.

With almost 100 different domain extensions on offer, the main focus has been on improving speed and more efficiently displaying the search results on a single page. We've also added several different optional display filters such as categories and domain availability:

It's now also easier to search for two-letter domain names as we will only show TLDs supporting these little goodies.

The new search currently runs in public beta mode, so please let us know if you run into any issues via our support center. We're looking forward to your feedback!

With the end of the year rapidly approaching, it's timely to now look back on the events that defined the domain name industry in 2011. What a year it has been, notably with the approval of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs). The long anticipated new domains will bring a flood of choices for naming your home on the web and an increasing need for next generation domain management tools and practices.

Here are our domain industry highlights for you:

1. New Generic Top-Level Domains

Internet regulatory body ICANN, concluded a lengthy history of internal debate and negotiation with multiple stakeholders that began with its formation in 1998. The organization unleashed approval to allow anybody to apply for a top-level domain. The historic move opens the doors to specifically branded domains, such as .ibm or .bmw, as well as new domains aimed at more general verticals, such as .hotel or .sport. There are also moves afoot to create domain brands for geographic regions, such as .berlin and .nyc. The application window begins January 2012, but industry observers predict that it may be 2013 before the first new domains roll off the production line. It is anticipated that the new offerings will encompass internationalised domain name (IDN) facilities, incorporating non-Latin scripts from day one.

2. Rising Popularity of Internationalized Country Domain Extensions

2011 saw a marked rise in the adoption of Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) across the globe; a trend likely to be accelerated as new top level domains begin to emerge. Registries from countries embracing a diversity of ethnicity and languages have been quick to become involved, with a total of 29 country code domains having been evaluated by ICANN. Malaysia has been the most recently added, enabling fuller representation of Internet names across a nation of four different official languages and numerous regional dialects. Russia operates one of the most successful domains achieving over 800,000 registrations of Cyrillic domains on the transliterated .ru country code. More recently the Russians achieved dual listing status with the launch of the top level national domain .PФ (Российская Федерация).

3. .COM Reaching 100 Million Registered Names (almost)

Are we there yet? The familiar and reliable .COM domain has been around 26 years and is by far the most popular domain with nearly half of all global registrations. Whilst Planet Earth clocked up its 7 billionth citizen in 2011, .COM is expected to attain 100 million unique domains around about the end of the year (give or take a week). It is almost unbelievable to think that this plucky little generic top level domain (gTLD) had less than 10,000 registrants back in 1995, but has now become the standard for almost every business, blogger or home user on the net.

4. Domain Name Sales Still Going Strong

Domainers, traders and domain real estate investors had a buoyant 2011, despite perturbations in the global economy. It seems some domains appreciate in value (a lot!). But the trick of course is to figure out which ones. In a year which saw both a Facebook movie and a staggering IPO by business network LinkedIn, it came as no surprise to see social.com change hands for a cool $2.6 million. The arrival of new gTLDs will no doubt stimulate and expand the market for highly sought after domains.

What were your highlights for 2011? We'd love to hear them in the comments.

And, to all our American customers, have a great Thanksgiving and travel safe!