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Athletes Can Blog at Olympics - with Restrictions

Posted by Zonk on from the can't-stop-the-signal dept.

Hugh Pickens writes "The IOC has given athletes the right to blog at the Beijing Games this summer, a first for the Olympics. They're allowed, as long as they follow the many rules it set to protect copyright agreements, confidential information and security. The IOC said blogs by athletes 'should take the form of a diary or journal' and should not contain any interviews with other competitors at the games. They also should not write about other athletes. Still pictures are allowed as long as they do not show Olympic events. Athletes must obtain the consent of their competitors if they wish to photograph them. Also, athletes cannot use their blogs for commercial gain."

9 of 184 comments (clear)

  1. Olympic Oxymoron by LingNoi · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Olympism is a philosophy of life, exalting and combining in a balanced whole the qualities of body, will and mind. Blending sport with culture and education, Olympism seeks to create a way of life based on the joy found in effort, the educational value of good example and respect for universal fundamental ethical principles.
    (Olympic Charter, Fundamental Principles, paragraph 1)

    I guess they forgot to add the clause, "except when in China".
    1. Re:Olympic Oxymoron by Lally+Singh · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Very fair.

      However I'd like to add that to make ethical progress (as a species), we have to bring in those we disagree with (e.g. the ones who are really wrong). Bring them in and push for incremental change. It's messy and boring, but it's the best way to do it. If we require china to play by all the rules at once, they're unlikely to participate -- no progress made. If we ease them, then we can start a process which (hopefully) will get us somewhere.

      Messy, boring, and deeply unsatisfactory, yes. But it often works, and I personally can't think of a better solution that would work as well.

      --
      Care about electronic freedom? Consider donating to the EFF!
  2. China can't just come in take athletes way to poli by Joe+The+Dragon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    China can't just come in take athletes way to political prisons so what does the athletes have to lose?

  3. How the IOC killed the Olympics by Ranger · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The insane restrictions of the IOC has really killed my interest in the Olympics. And along with the timeshifting the broadcast of events ruins my enjoyment.

    The pre-Disney ABC coverage of the Olympics and their Wild World of Sports was the best coverage of the Olympics and no one is ever going to be that good again. Especially with the ironfisted control by the IOC. So fuck you, International Olympics Committee.

    --
    "You'll get nothing, and you'll like it!"
  4. Re:Enough is Enough by schnikies79 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Olympic sport is supposed to be about human pure ability/endurance, not technical innovation. It's the same reason that steroids and such are banned.

    If we go by your thinking, why can't athletes use those motorized, piston-powered leg attachments that make you run faster? I feel bad for the guy, but he does have an advantage.

    I am a runner myself and running is my life, so I can see where they are coming from.

    --
    Gone!
  5. Disinterest in the Olympics by Trojan35 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Anyone else notice that as the Olympics has shifted from Nationalism to Commercialism it's viewership and worldwide interest has dropped dramatically? I wonder when the people who run the Olympics will notice that. My guess: once it starts losing money.

  6. Re:In the good old times... by mangu · · Score: 5, Insightful

    when Avery Brundage was running the show. He also kicked the Jews off the US team in Berlin, and fought to keep the female events "decorative"

    Well, Thomas Jefferson was a slave owner. Apparently he fathered one or more children by one of his slaves. This can be labelled as rape, since the slave, willing or not, wasn't in a position to say "no".


    A man can have the right idea about something, yet be a total son of a bitch about something else.

  7. The Olympics is about money by Alain+Williams · · Score: 3, Insightful
    The Olympics is about money, not sport - that died some years back. These restrictions are NOT of Chinese doing, it is the IOC that is doing it for it's own profit and that of the sponsors. It would be interesting to see how much money changes hands in brown paper bags.

    I shall not be watching - so don't count my eyes when you work out what the TV rights will cost.

  8. Not a terrible policy hut not great either. by 91degrees · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The IOC said blogs by athletes 'should take the form of a diary or journal and should not contain any interviews with other competitors at the games.

    I see their point. They don't want their athletes using the event to springboard a journalism career. This does involve interfering with their freedom of speech though. What if they want to tell everyone about the games in a more dispassionate way? Why shouldn't they?

    They also should not write about other athletes.

    Privacy? A bit heavy handed.

    Still pictures are allowed as long as they do not show Olympic events.

    Seems the IOC has become a corporate enterprise. It used to be all about promoting sports for its own sake. It's a shame that things have gone this way.

    Athletes must obtain the consent of their competitors if they wish to photograph them. Also, athletes cannot use their blogs for commercial gain."

    Both of these are laudable. The first is about the privacy of the other athletes. The second is about keeping to the amateur spirit of the games.