The webcast will take place at the Royal Albert Hall on June 26 2003 to mark the official release of 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'.
The webcast will allow millions of Harry Potter fans around the world to access the event by logging on to .
At the event, hosted by Stephen Fry, JK Rowling will read from her new book and answer questions from children, some via the live webcast.
Bloomsbury is anticipating that many schools, clubs and families worldwide will gather together to watch the one-off webcast, which will be available on archive on MSN for the following seven days to enable everyone to see the event any time, any place for a week.
The event is being produced by 'Big Brother' company Endemol UK and marks the first time that a non-music event has been webcast globally.
It will surpass previously landmark webcasts such as Sir Paul McCartney's return to old Beatles club The Cavern in 1999.
Peter Cowley, director of interactive media at Endemol, told the Financial Times: "She was concerned that you could get caught up in the commerciality of television. This is an example of the web doing more than television could."
The fifth instalment of the book is the biggest so far and it has become the most pre-ordered book yet published.
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