The Internet is viewed as fertile ground for conspiracy theories, a place where individuals can rant about the latest controversy in the news. But the UK story that has dominated the headlines this summer ? the suicide of British weapons expert David Kelly and the subsequent probe ? has generated relatively little chatter on the Web?s more fiery online forums.

Some observers believe the reason lies with a voluminous Web site set up by the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA), the government body handling the Hutton inquiry. The www.the-hutton-inquiry.org.uk has become the UK?s most popular political Web site attracting as many as 20,000 unique visitors per day, the site?s operators said. It carries more than 10,000 pages of testimony and documentation including juicy e-mail exchanges from Downing Street and BBC editorial chiefs. The contents have kept armchair news pundits busy reading, not ranting.

?I cannot understand why there has been so little discussion, even on the most rabid internet forums. That to me is the most striking element of this whole episode,? said Simon Davies, director of Privacy International, a civil liberties group. The access into an ongoing probe is unprecedented for Britain. The Official Secrets Act typically keeps such sensitive government information sealed for 30 years.

Last month Lord Hutton issued a statement that it is the public?s right to know ?every word of evidence which is spoken at the inquiry and should know the full contents of every document which is referred to in evidence.? As a result, the site is updated twice daily with fresh testimony on days the inquiry is running. It carries over 900 documents, including a revealing e-mail exchange between Downing Street spin meisters discussing strategy for getting the BBC to climb down from its original story that the government ?sexed up? its intelligence on banned Iraqi weapons ?This is now a game of chicken with the Beeb. The only way they will shift is if they see the screw tightening,? a now infamous e-mail by Downing Street spokesman Tom Kelly reads.

The publication of such reports online is nothing new. Kenneth Starr released his hefty dossier on the Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky affair on the Internet in 1998. And in 2001, a probe into British mass murderer Dr Harold Shipman began appearing in stages online. But the Kelly saga is unique. Every provocative twist and turn is published online well before the final report has been finished, making it one of the most popular international news stories.

Even in France, which has seen a particularly busy news summer with the mysterious death of actress Marie Trintignant and a heatwave that has killed over 11,000 elderly French citizens, the Kelly story is a ?must read,? said Bruno Francon, chief editor of Le Monde Online. Free speech advocates can?t help but marvel at the access. ?They would never do something like this in France,? said Francon. ?As a journalist and also as a citizen I think it is very helpful. But I cannot see it happening here.?

Others theorise that it may only be the beginning. The Internet affords government and major organisations a place to present their unedited side of a tory. If managed well, it can do more to placate a public looking for heads to roll. But the Hutton Inquiry also exposes the difficulty of keeping confidential e-mails and memos out of the public eye.

Professor William Dutton, director of Oxford University?s Oxford Internet Institute, said the emergence of electronic communications is at the heart of government and corporate spin control philosophy today. He said the Kelly affair is not likely to keep politicians and corporate chiefs off e-mail though.