'Web creator' Al Gore receives 'lifetime achievement'

Former US vice president Al Gore is to receive a lifetime achievement award for his work in promoting the growth of the internet. He will not however be recognised as 'the inventor of the internet' - a claim which has rather erroneously gone into folklore.

The organisers of the Webby Awards will bestow the honour upon Gore at their annual ceremony on 6 June. He will be presented with the award by one of the real fathers of the internet, Vint Cerf.

Cerf may be tempted to ask Gore 'what have you been telling people?' - following accusations that Gore has been 'dining out' on claims that he "created the internet".

Gore has long been lambasted after he made rather misleading claims during a 1998 interview on CNN where he said he had "created the internet".

He subsequently claimed those remarks were taken out of context when all he meant to say was he had worked hard to lay the foundations for a successful and widespread adoption of the technology.

However, critics who believe Gore was stealing credit from the likes of Cerf and Sir Tim Berners-Lee are unlikely to let it lie. They believe his 1998 claims were fairly unambiguous.

Gore told CNN's Wolf Blitzer: "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the internet."

The organisers of the Webby Awards claim the lifetime achievement honour is intended to set "the record straight on one of recent history's most persistent political myths".

The event's press release states: "Webby Awards will present former Vice President Al Gore with The Webby Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of the pivotal role he has played in the development of the internet over the past three decades."

Gore's high-tech credentials, include his appointment to the board of Apple in 2003.