The BBC has won a landmark ruling preventing a rogue company from using a website address similar to its own for illicit purposes.

A firm based in America had been using the address bbcnews.com to attract users but people logging on were finding a gambling site.

The BBC applied to an international arbitrator but the day after the complaint was lodged the American company transferred to Belize.

Despite this, the arbitrator ruled the domain name should be handed over to the BBC within ten days.

www.bbcnews.com