Site lists pages blocked by Google

15 July 2014 Last updated at 15:45 By Kevin Rawlinson BBC News

A website has been set up to list items Google has removed after the European Court of Justice ruled people could have articles about them deleted from the results of specific search terms.

Hidden From Google claims to have had "hundreds" of tip-offs from its users.

Searches on Google in Europe for some of the articles listed now return links to Hidden From Google by virtue of their mention on it.

Campaigners have called the court ruling an attack on free speech.

"There is an information gap there and, where you can verify examples, you can curate a list," said Afaq Tariq, the US web developer who set up the site in June this year.

He said he had asked for help from other developers in curating his list, which stood at 15 examples on Tuesday.

Mr Tariq said that, at first, he was just looking for an excuse to set up a website to test some software.

But, after settling on the "right to be forgotten" issue, he said he had realised that no-one had stepped forward to curate a list of articles removed from search engine results.

"It is not as if the links are going away, it is just Google results within Europe that they are removed from, so you have this before-and-after picture with Google US," he said.

"Some seem to have been removed, but are not any longer - that is part of the reason the list remains short. Until I can verify that an article is being censored consistently across European domains, I cannot put it on the list in good conscience," he said.

Streisand effect

Mr Tariq said he had not yet made up his mind on the issue in general. But the inclusion of articles removed from search engine results on Hidden From Google raises the possibility of the "Streisand effect" - when demanding silence on a subject only serves to draw more attention to it.

The term was coined after the singer unsuccessfully attempted to suppress publication of photographs of her home, inadvertently drawing more attention to them.

Two BBC News articles are among those listed. One request was to remove a 2010 article about a child abuse trial in Portugal from the results for "Carlos Silvino". Silvino, who admitted to 639 charges relating to the abuse of children or procuring them for others, was given an 18-year sentence.

Continue reading the main story

There is an information gap there and, where you can verify examples, you can curate a list."

End Quote Afaq Tariq HiddenFromGoogle.com creator

The other request was to hide a BBC article related to a blog by economics editor Robert Peston, although the website was unclear why the article had been removed.

Google was unable to say, but inquiries made by Mr Peston suggested that it was most likely at the request of someone who had left a comment on the blog, rather than at that of its subject, former Merrill Lynch chairman Stan O'Neal.

The result of a search for the name Robert Daniels-Dwyer, an archaeology expert caught shoplifting in 2006, and the city of Oxford is one of those listed as having been censored.

Instead of returning a contemporaneous Oxford Mail news story on the case, the search now returns a link to the Hidden From Google site as its eighth result. Seven of the top 10 search results refer to the removal of the Oxford Mail story from Google's results.

Also among the terms removed was the name of the Chancellor George Osborne's brother. The search terms related to an article on the Daily Express' website about Dr Adam Osborne's conversion to Islam.

The new law was the result of a test case in May this year, in which the the European Court of Justice's found in favour of Spaniard Costeja Gonzalez. He had unsuccessfully tried to make Google Spain remove references to an auction notice of his home dating from 1998.

Mr Gonzalez argued that the matter, which came about because he had had to auction his home to cover his social security debts, had been resolved and should no longer be on his online record.

'Judge and jury'

The ruling gave people the right to ask for articles to be removed from search engine results if the piece included their names, as well as "inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant, or excessive" information about them.

It does not include a requirement for articles to be taken offline altogether. However, because of the popularity of search engines, it has been argued that the effect is similar.

Continue reading the main story

• Google has received 70,000 requests under the new law
• The search engine is getting about 1,000 per day

Source: Google

On Monday, Google said it was being made to "act as judge and jury" on search results about individuals by the ruling.

Speaking to a Media Society conference in London, the company's spokesman Peter Barron said: "It's not a task that we ever wanted.

According to the Daily Telegraph, he told the Rewriting History conference: "Our background is that we are firmly in favour of free expression. The way that it's worked hitherto is that an individual with a grievance would go to the publisher or to a court - we don't think we should be judge and jury but today we face the law."

He said that Google had received 70,000 takedown requests since the ruling in May this year, adding that the firm was now getting another 1,000 per day. He said the ruling meant "the right to privacy now trumps freedom of expression", the paper reported.

The government has also expressed opposition to the new law.

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Record number of data complaints

15 July 2014 Last updated at 00:03

The UK's information commissioner has called for better funding for the country's data regulator amid a record number of cases.

Ahead of the release of the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) annual report, Christopher Graham said the body needed "stronger powers".

In the past year, the ICO issued £1.97m in penalties to companies found to breach data protection rules.

The report highlighted a high number of incidents involving local government.

"In particular, the disclosure of personal data in error," the report read.

In one example, a probation officer pleaded guilty to revealing the new address of a domestic violence victim to the alleged perpetrator. The officer was fined £150, and had to pay £280 in costs.

The ICO said it resolved 15,492 data protection complaints in the last financial year - a 10% rise on the previous 12 months. The number of calls to its advice helpline rose by more than 15%.

The ICO secured 12 criminal convictions and two cautions for the unlawful obtaining or disclosing of personal data.

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

Information commissioner Christopher Graham: "More powers needed"

In another incident, the ICO intervened when Staffordshire Police ran a Twitter campaign naming people charged with drink driving.

"Whilst releasing some details of people charged with criminal offences is acceptable," the ICO ruled, "using a hashtag '#drinkdrivers' is potentially misleading as it implies guilt."

One data security expert said that the ICO had a strong argument for deserving more funds.

"While penalties totalling £1,97m were issued, the ICO only collected £872,000, thanks to a combination of early payment reductions, appeals and impairments," said Chris McIntosh, chief executive of ViaSat UK.

"This is a situation that clearly favours those organisations with the resources to either reduce penalties through early payment or mount a challenge against a judgement.

"Yet with increased funding and powers, the ICO could not only make sure that penalties, financial or otherwise, matched the severity of an offence. It could make its investigations even more thorough: reducing the chances of appeals and making sure that its eventual judgement was both fair and final."

'Ever-growing'

At the launch of the report on Tuesday, Mr Graham said: "Facebook, [NHS] care data, Google: it is clear that organisations' use of data is getting ever more complicated. People need to know someone is watching over their information.

"Independence means someone who's got the resources to take on this ever-growing number of cases. The last 12 months have been a record year - more complaints resolved than ever, more enforcement action taken and more advice given through our helpline.

"And it also means having the powers to act on the more serious complaints. A strong regulator is needed if a data breach affects millions of people.

"To do our job properly, to represent people properly, we need stronger powers, more sustainable funding and a clearer guarantee of independence."

The ICO in the past has been criticised for both being too lenient, and not thorough enough, when investigating companies.

The ICO was described as "sadly lacking" by privacy campaigners when it dropped a 2010 investigation into Google's scooping up of personal information from wi-fi networks when taking pictures for its Street View product.

The ICO dropped its investigation after receiving reassurances from Google - only to re-open it in 2012 after US regulators found wrongdoing on Google's part.

In that year's annual report, it admitted it had not issued a single fine to any firm. However, new powers granted in January 2012 made it easier for the ICO to fine large amounts.

In this year's report, the highest number of complaints relate to nuisance calls. Over the 12 months, 161,720 complaints were made - 46% of which related to automated calls.

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Russian hacker group attacks CNET

15 July 2014 Last updated at 03:04

A Russian hacker group has attacked the news site CNET. It later said it stole usernames, encrypted passwords and emails for more than one million users.

CNET said a representative from the group - which calls itself 'w0rm' - informed it about the hack via a Twitter conversation.

A spokeswoman for CBS Interactive - the owner of CNET - said the firm had "identified the issue and resolved it".

According to CNET, w0rm offered to sell the database for 1 Bitcoin, or $622.

But it added that the hacking group said the plan to sell the database was to gain attention and "nothing more".

Improve security?

The representative of the group claimed that it hacked CNET servers to improve the overall security on the internet.

The group has claimed to have successfully hacked the BBC last year, as well as websites of Adobe and Bank of America.

It says that by targeting high-profile websites it can raise awareness of security issues.

"[W]e are driven to make the Internet a better and safer [place] rather than a desire to protect copyright," the representative said in a Twitter exchange with CNET.

On Monday, the representative offered a security solution to CNET by tweeting: "#CNET I have good protection system for u, ping me".

According to CNET, 27.1 million unique users visited its desktop and mobile sites in the US in June this year.

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Nvidia to unveil new games machine

14 July 2014 Last updated at 11:58 By Leo Kelion Technology desk editor

Nvidia is to launch a new gaming device that can link up to a PC's graphics card to supercharge its own processing power when used in a different location, the BBC has learned.

The company will offer a budget-priced separate controller for the Android device, which can also stream PC games to a TV via its HDMI-out port.

That may pose a challenge to the forthcoming Steam Machine games PCs.

But analysts note that Nvidia's earlier Shield handheld console has struggled.

"I think it's fair to say that Shield sold reasonably poorly," said Ed Barton, a games industry analyst at the consultancy Ovum, who has now seen the new device.

"And if the new device requires your PC to have a relatively new Nvidia GPU [graphics processing unit] to make use of its abilities, that will really limit its addressable market."

The BBC understands the device will run PC titles via Nvidia's GeForce Experience system, which does require the PC to be fitted with one of Nvidia's more powerful graphics cards.

It will, however, be able to run Android games natively via Nvidia's new Tegra K1 chip.

The company recently showed off the mobile chip - which includes both an ARM-based central processing unit (CPU) and a 192-core GPU - at Google's I/O developers conference where it powered the graphics-intensive Unreal Engine 4 games software.

Continue reading the main story

Nvidia may not be so interested in how many it sells, but rather the feedback it obtains"

End Quote Nick Parker Parker Consulting

The new device may in part be intended to provide a showcase for the chip in order to encourage other tablet and smartphone manufacturers to adopt it.

As yet it has only been used in a small number of devices, including a tablet from the Chinese Xiaomi, a smart TV by Lenovo and Google's experimental 3D-gesture-sensing Project Tango tablet.

A spokeswoman for Nvidia would not confirm the details of the device beyond saying that the company had an "awesome new gaming product that is launching soon".

Hardcore mobile gaming

The machine's ability to play PC games on a TV set threatens to disrupt Valve's plans to launch Steam Machines - living-room PCs running its Steam games platform built by third parties.

Valve recently announced it had delayed the launch of the tech until 2015.

The appeal of Nvidia's device is that it would combine the ability to offer graphics-intensive gaming in the living room and on the road via its low-cost add-on controller, as well as being able to be used as a standalone device to run the full range of Android apps, including productivity software.

The existing Shield handheld can also run non-gaming Android apps and support streamed PC games out-of-home via wi-fi as a test "beta" feature, but its bulky controller-centric form factor has limited its appeal to a niche subset of hardcore players.

One industry watcher suggested the new machine might also find it difficult to find an audience.

"Sony's PlayStation Vita already offers the best core console gaming experience on the move, and take-up of that device has been all right but not great," said Nick Parker, a games analyst at Parker Consulting.

"There are another number of devices that have tried to extend the Android mobile gaming experience, but experience has shown that people above a young age seem happier to play on a standard smartphone or tablet rather than travel with multiple devices.

"It could be the case that this is some kind of lab test. Nvidia may not be so interested in how many it sells, but rather the feedback it obtains to help it understand Android gaming on other devices and longer-term portable viability."

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World Cup re-created in 8-bit art

14 July 2014 Last updated at 16:49

Brazilian digital artist Matheus Toscano has been re-creating football moments in the classic "8-bit" style - inspired by the games consoles of yesteryear.

And, like those classic gaming machines, what the images lack in realism they more than make up for in character.

For the World Cup, Toscano, who makes the images on his tablet, faithfully re-created the most significant moments - biting and all.

Toscano has been creating the images since 2012, but the World Cup has brought him a wave of new fans.

"With no ambitions, I created a Twitter account and a blog to share my work, and the reactions were quite positive," he told the BBC.

"It is a hobby that I do in my free time. I did not expect to be such a success."

His hobby could extend further if his hopes of raising money to create a retro-style football game are met.

Below is a selection of World Cup moments, as drawn by Toscano. The rest of his work can be found on the project's website, 8Bit-Football.com - but don't expect to see a picture of Brazil's thumping loss to Germany.

"There were so many goals that I did not know what to draw," Toscano said.

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BT customers suffer email failure

14 July 2014 Last updated at 18:00 By Kevin Rawlinson BBC News

Tens of thousands of BT customers were left without email over the weekend, the company has said.

Users complained they could neither send nor receive messages from Friday 11 July, with "thousands" still affected on Monday afternoon.

BT said there was a problem with the transfer of customers from Yahoo to its own mail service.

Some users complained that there had been insufficient communication from the company.

BT also admitted that some emails had been lost as a result of the problem.

In a statement, the company apologised and said it was told of the problem by Openwave Messaging, which is handling the migration of around seven million BT customers, on Saturday night.

That meant that a "minority of BT's customers would have seen an error when trying to log in and were unable to access their email", the statement read.

'Problems'

A spokesman told the BBC that the total number of people affected was "in the tens of thousands". While the majority of those have had their service restored, the number still without remained in the thousands, the spokesman said on Monday.

Some customers complained that they had been given little information by BT as the problem persisted over the weekend.

"For the size of the service provider, one would have expected some sort of statement on their website," David Hunt, from Nottingham, told BBC News.

He said that he has filed a complaint with BT. He said that people who needed to access their emails over the weekend, such as those who were using e-tickets they had not downloaded, would be stuck. "I can see how that causes problems," he said.

Other customers wrote to the BBC to complain. Alan Ratcliffe, from Weybridge, Surrey, said he was forced to use a rival service and suggested that, if the problem persisted, others might do the same more permanently.

It is the second time BT has been forced to apologise in a matter of weeks. Late last month, it did so after admitting that "many" of its UK users experienced problems connecting to the internet.

In March, it emerged that BT was being investigated by the Information Commissioner amid claims that the company "exposed user credentials en masse".

A whistleblower came forward with concerns about BT's security as it handled the migration of its customers' email accounts.

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Beats defends headphone bass quality

By Chi Chi Izundu Newsbeat entertainment reporter

15 July 2014 Last updated at 09:05

The president of Beats by Dre, Luke Wood, has defended the quality of its headphones.

Speaking exclusively to Newsbeat he responded to comments that they are too bass heavy.

"I've certainly heard that as an opinion on the headphone, I disagree," said Wood.

"We didn't go to build a reference headphone, something you build in the studio that is really a technical tool to hear when you are recording."

He added: "If you look at Dre's pedigree, Jimmy's [Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine] pedigree, even my pedigree, we are all recording engineers.

"What we did is build a headphone for playback. What does it sound like right when it is finished? And that is what we've accomplished."

When asked about further details of Beats Electronics recent deal with Apple, Wood said he couldn't comment on rumours circulating about Beats headphones and iPhones.

The deal is worth $3bn (£1.8bn) and is thought to be Apple's largest acquisition to date.

Wood was in the UK to host a Q&A featuring Ed Sheeran and BBC Radio 1 presenter Zane Lowe.

Eminem's producer and head of Shady Records, Paul Rosenberg, and producer Spike Stent were also part of the discussion.

Are the rumours true about the sockets on Apple products being changed to only take Beats by Dre headphones?

"I'm not here to talk about Apple with you today," said Mr Wood.

"The truth is that the deal has not closed with Apple, which it will shortly, once it goes through regulatory approval.

"And at that point we'll actually sit down with Apple and figure it out. But right now, the truth is there's absolutely no plans made."

Luke Wood (right) hosts a Q&A with Ed Sheeran, Paul Rosenberg, Spike Stent and Zane Lowe (L-R)

What was your first meeting with Dr Dre like?

"Incredible. It's Dr Dre. It's like meeting Walt Disney," explained Wood.

I can honestly say the only other artist that I feel the same way, that I have been fortunate to meet, is George Harrison

Luke Wood, President of Beats by Dre

"He's an unbelievable character because very few creative entrepreneurs have kept the purity of vision that Dre has.

"Everything he's done has always been about sound, he's always focused on making the world sound like a better place.

"If you think about it, he's really a sound pioneer. No-one made music that sounded like that ever before, at least in my opinion.

"He's a producer, he's a rapper, he's a mixer, but it's really the vision in his head of sound, so having a chance to meet him, I can honestly say the only other artist that I feel the same way, that I have been fortunate to meet, is George Harrison."

What is Dre like to work with and does he have an office?

Luke Wood being interviewed by Newsbeat's entertainment reporter Chi Chi Izundu

"Dre's office is the recording studio, thank God," said Wood.

"But he is in the building all the time and we work endlessly on sound and industrial design, portfolio, product ideas, marketing ideas, constantly.

"He has input on everything. He always has an opinion and he is, I think, one of the greatest cultural barometers in the world.

"He has an incredible sense of humour, he's wickedly smart, very fast and he's very, very efficient with his words."

Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter and Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube

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National parks in mobile signal deal

15 July 2014 Last updated at 11:48 By Joe Miller Technology reporter

England's national parks are to get improved mobile phone coverage, following an agreement with the four main UK network operators.

EE, O2, Three and Vodafone have pledged to minimise the "adverse landscape effects" of any new infrastructure.

The National Parks England director told BBC News any new masts needed would be "sensitively located and sensitively designed".

More than 330,000 people live in the parks, covering almost 10% of England.

The accord, signed by National Parks England and the Mobile Operators Association, is designed to tackle so-called "notspots" - areas in which there is no mobile coverage whatsoever.

National Parks England director Paul Hamblin told BBC News some new masts may be built to bolster mobile signal in the natural environments.

Currently, the radio waves that carry mobile phone signals are often obstructed by the terrain in national parks and can be affected by stone buildings, which are harder to penetrate.

The new agreement outlines plans for "mast-sharing, site-sharing, and any other technical advances" that would help protect the areas' environment while increasing connectivity.

The Mobile Operators Association's executive director, John Cooke, said: "There are compelling social and economic reasons for having good mobile connectivity, including mobile broadband, in rural areas... because such connectivity mitigates the disadvantages of greater physical distances and poor transport links.

"Operators have worked well with National Parks England to ensure that the benefits of mobile connectivity reach communities in these beautiful parts of our country and help them survive and thrive in the 21st Century."

A Mountain Rescue England and Wales representative said the organisation welcomed the move, which could improve safety in the parks, but cautioned against complacency.

"It is always helpful if people have a map and a compass," he said, adding that mobile phones were prone to running out of charge, as well as losing connectivity.

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GCHQ leak lists cyber-spies' hacks

15 July 2014 Last updated at 12:06 By Leo Kelion Technology desk editor

A document that appears to list a wide variety of GCHQ's cyber-spy tools and techniques has been leaked online.

It indicates the agency worked on ways to alter the outcome of online polls, find private Facebook photos, and send spoof emails that appeared to be from Blackberry users, among other things.

The document is alleged to have been among those leaked by former US intelligence analyst Edward Snowden.

One expert said the release, published on the site Intercept, was "damaging".

Alan Woodward, a security consultant who has done work for GCHQ, the UK's intelligence agency, said: "If you read the mission statement of any signals intelligence organisation, all the listed techniques are what you'd expect them to be doing.

"But it's very unhelpful for the details to leak out because as soon as you reveal to people how something is being done they can potentially take steps to avoid their information being collected.

"We've already seen it happen when various forms of interception were revealed previously with the Snowden leaks."

Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who published the latest document, noted in his article that an earlier inquiry by the European Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee had called into question the "legality, necessity and proportionality" of the data-collection activities of GCHQ and the US National Security Agency (NSA), for which Mr Snowden worked.

He also highlighted that the article's publication coincided with the start of a legal challenge brought by Privacy International, Liberty and other civil rights groups that claimed the UK's security agencies had acted unlawfully.

However, GCHQ denies it is at fault.

"It is a longstanding policy that we do not comment on intelligence matters," it said in a statement.

"Furthermore, all of GCHQ's work is carried out in accordance with a strict legal and policy framework which ensures that our activities are authorised, necessary and proportionate, and that there is rigorous oversight, including from the secretary of state, the interception and intelligence services commissioners and the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee."

Swamp donkey

More than 100 projects are included in the document, which appears to be from a Wikipedia-style listing for GCHQ's Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group.

Many involve eccentric codenames.

For example, the ability to send an audio message to a large number of telephones and/or "repeatedly bomb" a target number with the same message is called Concrete Donkey - the name of a weapon in the video game Worms.

Other examples include:

• Angry Pirate - a tool to permanently disable a target's account on their computer
• Bomb Bay - the capacity to increase website hits/rankings
• Cannonball - the ability to send repeated text messages to a single target
• Gestator - a tool to make a message, normally a video, more visible on websites including YouTube
• Glitterball - software to help agents carry out operations in Second Life and other online games
• Birdstrike - Twitter monitoring and profile collection
• Fatyak - public data collection from the business-focused social network LinkedIn
• Spring Bishop - a tool to find private pictures of targets on Facebook
• Changeling - the ability to spoof any email address and send messages under that identity
• Bearscrape - a tool to extract a computer's wi-fi connection history
• Miniature Hero - the ability to source real-time call records, instant messages and contact lists from Skype
• Swamp donkey - a way to send a modified Excel spreadsheet document that silently extracts and runs malware on the target's computer
• Underpass - a tool to change the result of online polls

Some of the schemes are listed as being operational while others are said to be still at the design, development or pilot stages.

Analysis: Gordon Corera, security correspondent

The latest revelations suggest that GCHQ is developing a wide range of capabilities which go beyond the simple gathering of information and into the realms of covert action.

This is another traditional part of the work of spy agencies but one they prefer to keep clandestine and therefore "deniable".

According to the documents, this appears to range from disrupting an individual's online activity to broader "information operations" to influence opinion in other countries.

What is not clear from the document is how far these capabilities have actually been deployed and put into action and against whom.

Almost every state is secretly developing capabilities to disrupt their opponents in cyberspace but they do not like talking about them or having them revealed in public.

'Chinese menu'

It is not clear exactly how out-of-date the list is.

The document states it was last modified in July 2012, but includes a note saying: "We don't update this page anymore, it became somewhat of a Chinese menu for effects operations."

Staff are instead directed to an alternative page, which has not been leaked.

"The accusation that GCHQ has been manipulating polls and influencing and distorting political discourse is incredibly serious," said Emma Carr, acting director of the Big Brother Watch campaign group.

"The UK is always the first to point the finger at countries if there is a whiff of corruption or interference within a democratic process, so if senior ministers are aware that this is taking place then this absolutely stinks of hypocrisy.

"It is essential that the government directly addresses these accusations, otherwise they are at risk of losing the international moral high ground."

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Dot Scot: New web domain name starts

15 July 2014 Last updated at 17:11

A new top-level internet domain for Scotland has been launched, allowing people to choose a .scot web or email address for the first time.

About 50 sites run by "launch pioneers" are expected to go live on Tuesday.

Among those who have signed up for a new domain are the Scottish government, referendum campaigners Yes Scotland and Better Together, WWF Scotland, NHS Scotland and Scouts Scotland.

International pioneers include the Louisiana Scots and the Clan Wallace.

The .scot domain is one of a number of new top-level domains that are becoming available this year, such as .wales, .london, .berlin and .NYC.

It was launched after not-for-profit company Dot Scot Registry agreed terms with international regulators Icann to operate the new domain.

First pioneer

The first pioneer to go live on Tuesday was internet service provider Calico, which is showcasing the top-level domain to help to raise awareness and drive public interest in the domain ending.

Others were expected to launch their .scot sites over the course of the day.

Dot Scot director Gavin McCutcheon said: "It was from noon that the registry could accept the new domains.

Continue reading the main story

I am confident that the .scot domain name will prove to be a real asset to the people of Scotland and to the worldwide family of Scots"

End Quote Nicola Sturgeon Deputy First Minister

"From there, the owners of the domains do their part and set it up so that the domain points to their servers.

"Once that's complete, it can take up to a few hours for the new information to propagate across the internet through the various domain name servers.

"The domains should be resolving very soon, this is no glitch."

Earlier, Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon welcomed the launch.

"It is entirely right that Scotland should have its own distinctive and recognisable internet domain - in particular, one that will resonate internationally, helping to promote Scottish business and culture throughout the world," she said.

"I am confident that the .scot domain name will prove to be a real asset to the people of Scotland and to the worldwide family of Scots.

"I am looking forward to the Scottish government being able to make use of this new domain and to having www.gov.scot up and running before the end of the year, as well as our pioneer domains including www.welcome.scot, which go live today."

Mr McCutcheon described it as a "fantastic day for Scotland online".

"Owning a .scot domain will allow people and organisations a new unique way to express their identity online," he said.

"It's a community domain intended for everybody who lives and works in Scotland - and for the 50 million people around the globe who are part of Scotland's diaspora.

"After such a long campaign to secure the new .scot domain, we're delighted that we can launch when the eyes of the world are on Scotland, with the Commonwealth Games coming to Glasgow next week."

For the next 60 days, only launch pioneers will be allowed to use the .scot domain, but others are being invited to register interest via http://nic.scot. After 23 September, the domain will be open to all.

Richard Stevenson, of domain name registrar 1&1 Internet Ltd, said there had been strong demand for .scot reservations.

"Across history, Scotland has been synonymous with ambitious, truly innovative and impactful technology," he added.

"For Scottish businesses and citizens alike, the .scot domain is the opportunity to strengthen their web and email identity, optimise the way in which their websites are found and, importantly, leverage the enormously valuable brand that Scotland holds worldwide."

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