Internet 'in running' for Nobel Peace Prize

Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize

The internet is among a record 237 individuals and organisations nominated for this year's Nobel Peace Prize.

The number of nominations surpasses last year's record of 205 nominations.

The internet's nomination has been championed by the Italian version of Wired magazine for helping advance "dialogue, debate and consensus".

The director of the Nobel Institute, Geir Lundestad, told BBC News that the organisation had received "thousands of nominations" for the coveted prize.

"Some were nominated by one person, others by 10, others by 100," he said.

The secretive organisation does not release the list of nominees, but nominators sometimes announce their choices.

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The nomination for the internet is supported by 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi and the founder of the $100 laptop project Nicholas Negroponte.

Nominations can be put forward by former laureates, members of national governments and select university professors, among others.

Others on the shortlist are thought to include Russian human rights activist Svetlana Gannushkina and Chinese activist Liu Xiaobo.

The final list was decided by the Norwegian Nobel Committee - which has responsibility for the Peace Prize - at its first meeting of the year on 9 March, where the five-member panel was able to add its own nominations.

"The announcement of this year's laureate will be made on the 8 October," Mr Lundestad said. "The prize amount is very likely be the same as in recent years."

Last year's 10m Swedish kronor ($1.4m) prize was awarded to US President Barack Obama.

It is unclear who would accept the prize if the internet were to win.

Internet for Peace, set up to help support the nomination of the internet, says the prize would be "a Nobel for each and every one of us".