Slashdot Mirror
Olympians Banned From Blogging
nodwick writes "CNN reports that in a bid to protect its lucrative media contracts, the IOC is barring competitors, coaches, and support personnel from writing firsthand accounts of their Olympic experience, on the web or in print, for the duration of the Games. Nor are they allowed to ever post photographs or movies that they've taken, including media of themselves, even after the Games are finished. They've threatened to disqualify anyone that violates their restrictions and sue them for monetary damages. Looks like an effort to clamp down on grassroots, word-of-mouth publicity for the Olympics -- good thing they're not having any problems selling tickets anyways, eh?"
a lot of bloggers work for large companies, attened events or whatever but never give out personally identifying information.
Myself, I talk about work all the time but never use my real name or the company I work for. If you were clever you could work it out but - the company could never pin it on me. Anyway whos going to enforce this anyway
There is no god
Why on earth would you want to prevent these people from telling there stories? I know that some of the challenges they go through to get there and during the games, would be well worth sharing with others. Guess the Games have become about money too now.
The IOC are a non-profit organization so they can't be doing this for evil reasons.
Doesn't it make you feel good to know that our freedoms are protected by politicans, lawyers and journalists.
"....that in a bid to protect its lucrative media contracts, the IOC is barring..."
...and i stopped reading. i'm not going to rant about the legacy of the games or this and that...i'm just going to say: keep 'em, keep the money, keep your coverage, keep the contracts and consider me disgusted.
I would rather get the reports right from the competitors but the reality is that this is not about the people that are actually competing and more about the talking heads of the networks. Unfortunately we will put up with this and just say tsk! tsk!
Stay tuned for new sig...
...the legality of the actions taken. For, who actually owns the Olympic games? How can these rights be changed from country to country? I'm absolutely flustered by it all, especially since I thought that, in the first place, taking photos at an event was entirely legal.
The Political Programmer
They shouldn't be alowed to do this.
I know other parts of the world don't respect free speach as we 'try' to in the US but this is horrible.
The medal winners need to organize and have a blogathon. They can't disqualify everyone.
They IOC doesn't own the experiences of the athletes!!!! UGGGG
Just another in a long list of reasons for me to not waste my time watching the Olympics on TV. I remember when just being at the Olympics was enough to justify a lifelong pursuit of perfection. Nowadays, it's just a ticket to a lucrative advertising career, and you'd better get the gold, because 2nd place won't get you on a Wheaties box.
I'm sure this argument will be echoed by other posters, but I think this "Olympic blackout" policy by the IOC is getting ridiculous.
But I also think that the problem is self-repairing.
As it becomes more and more obvious that the Olympics are becoming NOTHING more than a corporate subsidized media event, the whole thing will revert to non-commercial, non-exclusive, pure competition. (Athletic competition, not commercial.)
Of course, we might have to endure the NBC/Nike Olympic Games! first.
Forbidding the athletes to post their own pictures is insane. I guess since the IOC makes the rules, they can just dis-allow someone from participating for any reason they want...but it's definately insane.
--Welcome to the Realm of the Hawke--
Are Belong To Us
Let's see...you train your whole life to have a shot at this thing, enjoy the moment, and want to share that moment with anyone and everyone using your own words. Sounds like natural progression in technology, eh?
Well, too bad. You've got corporate sponsors -- shoes, clothes, probably even the plane ticket to Athens. Then you've got people who commercialize this event so bad that they won't even let you share your thoughts unless they can make money off of it. You're a commodity, not some olympic hero. You're merchandise to be marketed and sold to a public who admire you. Your honor and glory amount to a feel-good story soundbyte...and that's about it.
So much for the spirit of the olympics. I'd have taken the laurel wreath and the vat of olive oil. Then again I'm not an athlete...and I'm not at all marketable...so a good bottle of olive oil sounds nice.
The cold war is over. The feeling of 'east versus west' is gone. A lot of people don't care anymore. After the blatantly corrupt money-grab of the previous Olympics, even fewer people care. Attempts by the organization to commodify all aspects of the Olympic experience will only accelerate the trend.
For me, the most heartening and yet saddest aspect of this debacle is the recognition of the power of the web to convey stories and images much faster and more efficiently than traditional outlets. I suppose the future is here, I guess I just hoped for something else.
That sucks, and I will not support the IOC with my money. Someone tell me when the Olympics start, so I can be sure not to watch TV that week.
They're only barred from writing for other news organizations, not for personal websites. Blogging isn't banned, according to the article.
Rather, Olympians are prohibited from writing articles and taking photographs for publication by outside news agencies.
This.. doesn't seem nearly so horrid. They can control which credentialed journalists get in, and make sure they've paid their dues and whatnot. The IOC is trying to prevent organizations from skipping past them and hiring on Olympians as insiders.
I'm with you entirely, but unfortunatley these things just keep encroaching and encroaching on our lives. Last night I went (as usual) to stick the BBC World Service on RealPlayer so that I could listen to it while going off to sleep (lets not get into why I was sleeping in the office). What I actually got, however, was a continuous loop of "Because of licensing restrictions, we cannot bring you this service". Apparently this is all because the Olympics can't be covered by the BBC in the States. This is ridiculous.
"The dew has clearly fallen with a particularly sickening thud this morning"
If I'm interested in a sport, I will want to see the full quality version. Sure, I'd love to read a blog or two, but what I'm really interested in is the event itself and I'll figure a way around M$NBC's stupid internet black out to get it.
If I were an athlete, I'd tell the IOC to shove it just as soon as my event was over and post whatever I wanted my family and friends to see.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
While I am not saying I completely agree with the IOC on this one, but they have the legal right to control all means of making money on this. If Mr. Phelps or some other big name Olympian had their own blog they could generate a lot of traffic. If they just happen to also have some advertising on it they could potentially make a lot of money reporting the Olympics. Most likely a 3rd party company would run the blog for the athlete so even more people are making money. This is all about money (whether that is a good thing or a bad thing) not the IOC trying to control the athletes thoughts.
All this will take to reverse is one gold medalist posting a bunch of photos and movies their parents took of them.
It doesn't matter what any court anywhere would say, they would be so pressured by public opinion over the matter that this wouldn't last.
Just imagine if they tried to not let them compete, or take away a medal or something.
Case closed.
Experiment!
What was your question again?
John
Luckily, if you RTFA they say that existing personal websites are exempt, but even then you apparently cannot post pix or video. That's fucking bullshit. I would very much like to see somebody challenge this rule, but unfortunately I think they would be simply kicked out of the Olympics and left with no recourse. Who is the IOC accountable to? No one, except for member countries, I'd bet.
Really, this seems to be a sad attempt by the news media to protect their turf. It's so pathetic. My question is, what if an athlete is also an accredited journalist in real life. Does the IOC grant them permission to post on their website? Obviously big money trumps free speech every time, though. I guess it's about time we just gave in and begged our corporate masters to be merciful. Fat lotta good that will do.
[/rant]
Electric Monkey Pants
The capital of Washington is Olympia, named for the Olympic mountains. The name predates the modern olympic games. There are a lot of stores in Olympia and other parts of Washinton that use "Olympic" in their name...or used to. The IOC sued them for trademark infringement several years ago and most changed their names rather than bankrupt themselves fighting the IOC in court.
I think it's time for the world public to retake control of the IOC, they are completely out of control and destroying the games in their mad pursuit of money.
I wonder if some bozo, say...me...were to start writing a blog about the Olympics as if I'm really there covering it.
Could I get sued even though I'm not there and I'm just making everything I write up?
If I had the time I would...but I'm too busy writing Slashdot comments.
"Music is everybody's possession. It's only publishers who think that people own it." - John Lennon.
They don't even want people directing traffic to their site. Check out their policy here Ooops...So much for that rule :)
I'm really roundabout in the way I write things. I mean, nobody would ever figure out I work for Microsoft.
Damn.
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
To protect lucrative broadcast contracts, athletes and other participants are also prohibited from posting any video, audio or still photos they take themselves, even after the games, unless they get permission ahead of time. (Photos taken by accredited journalists are allowed on the personal sites.)
First, I don't think this would hold up in court, especially if the photographs are being used on a non-commercial site. It's like saying, "Yes, we said you could take as many pictures as you want, but you just can't show them to anyone else or use them on any website."
What's the point of taking the pictures?!?
I could understand if they said that the pictures could not be used commercially - that statement could at least be supported by some semblance of an argument.
I could also *maybe* understand a blackout of photographic or video media until after the olympics are over.
This, though, is just wrong.
Try eMusic. DRM free, legal, MP3 downloads.
This is really, really stupid. What the IOC should have done is hand over blogging rights to one of their sponsors/networks (perhaps for free, this time, in the expectation of huge returns in future games when the value of blogging is more established) then setup up blogging facilities at said sponser/network's website and make the available to any atheletes who wish to make use of them. You could partition it by country, with nbc.com blogs for American atheletes, cbc.com blogs for Canadians, etc or put it all under one big site like Coke's.
No PR nightmare and a new revenue stream too!
Dumbasses!
The IOC. They get countries and commercial interests to spend billions because there's a boatload of money to be made by hosting and covering the games. The Olympics have ALWAYS been a private interest. Ownership of the games has for over a hundred years been controlled by the IOC. The atheletes are members who have agreed to abide by every whim of the IOC in return for being allowed to participate. There's NOTHING surprising or new here.
He's right, they can't stop the athletes from taking pictures of themselves.
It also states on the actual story on CNN, unlike the Slashdot story, that An exception is if an athlete has a personal Web site that they did not set up specifically for the Games.
and
they may not post journals or online diaries, blogs in Internet parlance, until the Games end August 29
So yes, they can post blogs and pictures of themselves AFTER the games are over. The asshat that posted the story here on Slashdot got the story wrong trying to inflame people here.
When in doubt, RTFA
The modern games have never been anything else but a giant propaganda machine. Wich such niceties as the nazis hosting it, the boycotts by the americans and soviets and the munich masacre the games have even lost the pretence of being about anything more then sporters being paid by the state not to work.
When someone dies during the Tour de France it has been known that the entire group of cyclist let the team of the dead person win by driving over the finishing line together. Their at least there are more important things then winning.
How many sporters at the munich olympics made even 1 symbolic protest? Was any of them intrestted in anything else but winning?
Peace through sports? Not until we get rid of the sporters and those who measure the worth of their country through beating other countries.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
These professors, programmers and athletes get a small share of the value they create. Most of the value goes to those who have cleverly extended the "container" and claim the individual's achievement in the name of the container.
It is an error to attribute the individual's achievement to the container in which he works.
RTFA.
"An exception is if an athlete has a personal Web site that they did not set up specifically for the Games."
/usr/bin/grep -i -E meaning life.txt
Given this piece of utter cluelessness:
Hyperlink Policy
ATHENS 2004 Organising Commitee for the Olympic Games -Website Hyperlink Policy
For your protection and ours we have established a procedure for parties wishing to introduce a link to the ATHENS 2004 website on their site. By introducing a link to the ATHENS 2004 official Website on your site you are agreeing to comply with the ATHENS 2004 Website General Terms and Conditions. In order to place a link embedded in copy interested parties should:
a) Use the term ATHENS 2004 only, and no other term as the text referent
b) Not associate the link with any image, esp. the ATHENS 2004 Emblem (see paragraph below)
c) Send a request letter to the Internet Department stating:
* Short description of site
* Reason for linking
* Unique URL containing the link (if no unique URL than just the main URL)
* Publishing period
* Contact point (e-mail address)
Once the request has been mailed, interested parties can proceed to include the link and will only receive a response if ATHENS 2004 does not accept the link. All requests should be sent to:
The Internet Department
Iolkou 8 and Filikis Eterias str.
GR-142 34 N. Ionia, Athens
Tel: +30 210 2004 000
Fax: +30 210 2004 800
e-mail: (All information submitted using this e-mail address is governed by the ATHENS 2004 Privacy Policy)
terms@athens2004.gr
ATH0 Bitcoin: 1DnwFLXczVZV8kLJbMYoheUrpqHesjxrSi
The IOC sued them for trademark infringement several years ago and most changed their names rather than bankrupt themselves fighting the IOC in court.
While IOC is definitely at fault here, a bigger problem is the US judicial system where the average person or small business can't defend themselves without risking bancrupcy.
You know, a while back Fidel Castro was lobbying for a Havana Olympics, perhaps in 2012, but I can't remember. Anyway, the IOC said that it was impossible because Havana doesn't have the required infrastructure.
Castro's response was that he knew his country didn't have the kind of resources to provide an ultra-modern olympic village like other countries do, but that despite their apparent lack of infrastructure and small size, Cuba has always produced good athletes. His opinion was that in a less modern country, athletes would have to focus on the game more than the money, and that the Olypmics was becoming too commercialized.
At the time I laughed, because to Castro, buying a candybar with your own money is probably too commercialized, but after reading the last few articles about IOC shenanigans I'm beginning to wonder if Havana wouldn't be a good place for the games. You can bet your tush that Castro wouldn't allow it to be the Corporatist games. Hey, he may be a communist dictator, but sometimes, that's a good thing. Can you imagine an olympic games without coca-cola ads everywhere, but instead, just a bunch of the best athletes in the world competing?
I haven't seen anything other than swimming, gymnastics, or beach volleyball.
Then you're not just a troll, but one without a television. Let's see what's been shown today that ISN'T one of your hated sports...
I believe NBC said they would cover something like 3 hours in EVERY SPORT. From what I've been taping this week, I have to agree. I've seen rafting, some sort of weird round-ball-with-hands, fencing, five more listed above, and all the other "hated" sports. Just because you're too lazy to look doesn't mean it's not there.
specific Olympian and the media's quest to make the rest of us idolize him
Ready? People like heroes. It's cool to see. Even if he didn't medal, the fact that he's racing 18 times is pretty darn impressive. The fact that he's winning... what, does it piss you off that someone's doing well? If it annoys you that much, hit mute and just watch and enjoy the games. Even if you hate him, guess what? You're getting more swimming, which more people are watching.
Wah.
I saw his cocky little smile showing that he wanted MONEY.
And? What's wrong with that? More power to him. What is with the communist screed on slashdot over certain things?
why not make rules banning professionals from competing
I'll agree with you there. That was the whole point of bringing the Dream Team over the first time - you want pro, we'll bring pro. I'll agree with what Costas said... "Unfortunately, marketing won."
"Sometimes a woman is a kind of religion, she can save your soul & set you free from all your sins" - Bad Examples
I live in Washington State (USA). Here we have the state capital of Olympia, Olympic mountain range, and not to mention America's finest piss water, Olympia Beer. A few years back, the Olympic Committee sued several businesses in Olympia and around the Olympic mountains for using "Olympia" in their name. I can only suspect that Miller Brewing, which owns Olympia Beer, paid them off, but the rest went to court and more or less lost.
"Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!" - Glen Beck
I know other parts of the world don't respect free speach as we 'try' to in the US but this is horrible.
You could have used another country as an example for the respect for freedom of speech and of press.
A current index places the US in place 17.
Look though at 36 USC 220506 or here at Cornell - this statute gives certain exclusive word rights to the US Olympic Committee for various terms including Olympics, Olympiad, and among other things Pan-American. See (a)(4). Not only Olympics et al. but Pan-American? How outrageous is that?
There are however some exceptions in subsection (d) for prior use and limited other uses.
I was watching the US women's soccer match against Australia the other morning, and the stands were quite honestly emptier than any stands I've ever seen for any sporting event, ever. The Whitbread across the ocean yacht race had more spectators. Mile 143 of the Iditarod had more spectators.
There were no spectators on the far side of the stadium from the cameras. There were no spectators in the stands at either end zone. Not figuratively; literally: zero. And while I know that there must have been some spectators on the near side, because I heard one or two "USA!" cheers and, I think, an "Aussie Aussie Aussie!" cheer (also, the announcers mentioned that some of the players had family in attendance), they were invisible to the high stadium camera.
Presumably, they were all clustered low, near the center line or behind the benches; but with the exception of one suspiciously close-cropped shot of a couple of cheering fans used as B-roll footage on a return from commercial, there was no visual evidence that anyone was in attendance.
Now, I understand that women's socccer is not exactly as popular in Greece as it is in America, or even, say, Germany or Mexico; but I live in Atlanta and, you know, we sold out Archery -- not exactly a sport designed for thrilling live audiences -- in 1996. We sold out Field Hockey. We sold out the Modern Pentathlon. We sold out Team Handball, fer chrissakes, and it's hard to imagine a more obscure or unpopular sport in America (my wife and I went to it, too, and it was great fun to watch).
As I said to King Kaufman at Salon.com, "2004 in Athens marks the first Olympics to ever be boycotted by its host country."
At Boston University when students graduate they are prevented from taking their pictures while getting a diploma handed to you. You can pay the "BU professional photographer $10 a snap" later though.
I know cause I have attended numerous relatives graduation. I sneaked a few pics on my camcorder and cameras, and people looked at me like I was on acid.
Tried to post this a few hours ago but they must have cut off my internet connection to stop me.
The Olympics are not about sport. They are about money and jingoism. The why of this rule coming into place is easy. As to how they can legally enforce silence on thousands of athletes whose own first hand accounts are far more interesting than the talking head commentary on "ennnnn bee see" is mostly due to how copyright laws have been twisted to the point where it would probably be better for the vast majority of us, who don't own TV stations, if there was no such thing as copyright.
The difference between news and entertainment blurred and now it is no surprise that the entertainment conglomerates tell the news organizations (mostly owned by those same conglomerates) that they have to pay to report the score of a football (or any other pro sport) game played in a stadium that taxpayers paid for.
Aside from a once or twice a year trip to Camden Yards to get a Boog's barbecue sandwich I really have no interest in Professional or College athletics because it has nothing to do with sport or competition and everything to do with making a ton of money by controling every aspect of perception of a publicly funded event.
The IOC, the MLB, the NBA, and NFL and all the others can keep their steroid chomping illiterate super-athletes because if I want to have fun I am gonna go play my own game until they sue me for kicking a ball around without a license.
The main problem with banning professionals would be defining just what a professional is. All those Russian hockey players who collect paychecks from the Army would be considered non-professional athletes, while their counterparts who are above board in how they make a living would be ineligible.
A level playing field for amateurs was a nice idea, but in many economic systems it was just far too easy to cheat by finding other ways to pay athletes. The only way to close the loophole was to let the more honest countries do the same.
I will say that I'm quite glad to see the old East German women's 4x200 relay record finally fall, and it seems the entire swimming world feels likewise, even if they would rather have done it themselves.
Mal-2
How is the Riemann zeta function like Trump rallies? Both have an endless number of trivial zeros.
To A) not have a job or B) own a dual tuner Tivo and have lots of free time. Because the average person who works 9 to 5 and finally settles into tv watching from say 7:30 to 10pm is seeing pretty much nothing but Swiming and Gymnastics. Prime Time Olympic coverage has pretty much sucked ass. I mean how much swimming and gymnastics can the average adult male watch? Sure rarely we've gotten to see other sports in prime time but for the most part its been nothing but the two sports listed above. The parent is right, going by what most people are seeing at night you'd think there are only like 3 sports in the Olympics. Oh and Bob Costas is realy annoying.
You can list all the program guides you like, it won't change the fact that US audiences are getting royally screwed by the coverage.
If you wanna get rich, you know that payback is a bitch