If you enjoyed Bytware's i5virus game last fall and you would like to show your appreciation, you now have the opportunity to cast your vote for the System i entry in the Webby People's Voice Awards.

Launched at last October's Columbus COMMON, i5virus, an educational campaign designed to raise awareness of issues pertaining to the use of PHP technology on IBM System i servers, has been nominated for a Webby Award in the "Best Sound Design of 2008" category. The i5virus campaign was earlier presented three ADDY Awards by the American Advertising Federation, including two top-scoring Gold ADDYs. Webby winners will be announced May 6 and honored at a star-studded ceremony in New York City June 9.

Hailed as the "Oscars of the Internet" by the New York Times, the Webby Awards are the leading international awards honoring excellence on the Internet. Categories include Web sites, mobile Web sites, interactive advertising, and online film and video. Webby Awards honors are presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a 550-person judging academy whose members include Internet co-inventor Vinton Cerf, R/GA's chief Bob Greenberg, "Simpson's" creator Matt Groening, syndicated columnist Arianna Huffington, and movie producer Harvey Weinstein.

"The Webby Awards honor the outstanding Web sites that are setting the standards for the Internet," said David-Michel Davies, executive director of the Webby Awards. "i5virus's Webby Award nomination is a testament to the skill, ingenuity, and vision of its creators," he said.

"We have been overwhelmed by the positive response to our i5virus campaign that we have received from the System i user community and media," said Chris Jones, Bytware marketing director. "We set out to do something fun, something different, and something that would at the same time raise awareness about issues that we felt were very important to System i users. We would like to thank everyone in the community for their great response and support of i5virus."

Being nominated for a Webby is an elite achievement as there are only five nominees per category, and only about 500 of the nearly 10,000 entries reach this point (five nominees in each of just over 100 categories). The 12th Annual Webby Awards received entries from more than 60 countries and all 50 U.S. states.

Through May 1, online fans from around the world can cast their own votes for i5virus in the Webby People's Voice Awards presented by Nokia at http://pv.webbyawards.com/. At the top of the People's Voice front page, there is a pull-down menu called "Select a Nominee." All Nominees are listed in alphabetical order. Readers can scroll down to the 'I's where they will see "i5virus/Best Sound Design." Click the listing and it will take you to the nominees for the appropriate category. Select the radio button for "i5virus" and click the "Cast My Vote" button. That's it! Readers will see i5virus listed on the Webby site as credited to Stellar Debris, the independent creative arm of Bytware's marketing run by Chris Jones. 

To vote in the Webby People's Voice Awards, it will be necessary to register, but this is done to prevent automated worms (like those that automatically fill in contact forms and post to message boards) from tainting the vote. However, the registration is simple and must be done only once.

About i5virus

i5virus was an educational campaign designed to raise awareness of issues pertaining to the use of PHP technology on IBM System i servers. Consisting of two parts--a launch video distributed via YouTube and a game site--i5virus was officially launched at the autumn IBM COMMON User Conference in October 2007.  i5virus put players on the trail of a Chinese cybercrime syndicate that attacked a U.S. financial institution and facilitated massive identity theft by exploiting PHP on System i. Starting with the YouTube video (a Webby Nominee for Best Sound Design) was shot on location in Tokyo and takes players along on the chase for evidence, which leads them to the game site. Players then work their way through the case using a System i-style green screen computer interface and interacting with the investigator's desktop, learning more about PHP security along the way. For more information, contact Chris Jones at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or by calling him at  +81.3.3796.0830.

About The Webby Awards

Founded in 1996, The Webby Awards are known worldwide for their famous five-word speech limit. Past headline-grabbing Webby speeches include Al Gore's, "Please don't recount this vote," the Beastie Boys,' "Can anyone fix my computer?" and Prince's "Everything you think is true." Hailed as the Oscars of the Internet by the New York Times, the Webby Awards are the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, including Web sites, mobile Web sites, interactive advertising, online film and video. The Webby Awards are presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. Sponsors and partners include Adobe; the Creative Group; .ORG; the Barbarian Group; Level3; Adweek; Fortune; Variety; Wired; IDG; Brightcove; PricewaterhouseCoopers; 2advanced.Net; KobeMail and Museum of the Moving Image.