The World Wide Web has been nominated among a record 237 individuals and organisations in the run for this year's Nobel Peace Prize.

The nomination for the extraordinary power of the Internet was said to have found support in the Italian version of Wired magazine for helping advance "dialogue, debate and consensus".

Shirin Ebadi, the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner and the founder of the 100 dollar laptop project Nicholas Negroponte, also vouched for the Internet's nomination, the BBC reported.

Others shortlisted are believed to include Russian human rights activist Svetlana Gannushkina and Chinese activist Liu Xiaobo.

Geir Lundestad, the director of the Nobel Institute, said: "The announcement of this year's laureate will be made on the 8 October. The prize amount is very likely be the same as in recent years." (ANI)