Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

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."

25 of 184 comments (clear)

  1. So basically... by Nemilar · · Score: 4, Interesting

    From the summary, the rules are basically, "you may blog at the Olympics, but you may not blog about the Olympics. Unless you are blogging about what you had for breakfast at the Olympics, and you do not include pictures."

    Woohoo, freedom of the press!

    --
    Nemilar http://www.techthrob.com - Visit Me!
    1. Re:So basically... by TubeSteak · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Are athletes going to be allowed to blog about Chinese human rights issues?
      IIRC, "Free Tibet" is not a message that will be welcomed in the Olympic Village or Olympic venues.

      BTW - I get a registration link for TFA
      http://news.google.com/news?q=ioc+blogging

      --
      [Fuck Beta]
      o0t!
    2. Re:So basically... by TheMeuge · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Not quite... it's more like:

      You may blog at the Olympics, as long as you don't write anything that anyone wants to read.

    3. Re:So basically... by j35ter · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Uh, the IOC is surely not a corporation, and especially not the athletes employer. They're merely the organizers of the Olympic games.

      Their infringement on athletes' rights is a scandal on its own!

      --
      Delta-Mike November Bravo Tango
    4. Re:So basically... by flyingsquid · · Score: 5, Interesting
      If they aren't boycotting the games already, then there is very little chance they would have any real concerns about Chinese human rights issues.

      How much impact do you think Stephen Colbert would have had if he'd said, "the White House correspondent's dinner? But I hate the White House, I'm going to boycott it!" Instead, he took that as an opportunity to criticize the president, to his face, in front of all his staff and in front of the media. And there wasn't a damn thing the president could do.

      Not showing up to the Olympics is pointless. You're throwing away years of hard work, and for what? China isn't going to suddenly stop supporting Sudan and Burma, or stop oppressing Tibetans just because a few athletes don't show. Or, you could show up, win a medal, get a moment in the spotlight, and use it to shed light on China's abuses, in China, with the entire world watching (of course, it might be a good time to bring attention to some U.S. human rights abuses as well).

      I could be wrong here, but I don't think that the Chinese have the slightest clue what they're in for. The government can't simply crush dissent under the treads of a tank, like they did during Tienanmen, there will be witnesses everywhere, all with wireless laptops, Blackberries, blogs, cell phones, cell phone cameras, digital video recorders... everything will be covered by a dozen cameras and thousands of well-connected witnesses; it's the perfect time to make a statement, and it will be almost impossible for Beijing to stop you or retaliate. In a way, they're a little like our Bubble-Boy president, George W. Bush. He and his advisors inhabit a reality-proof bubble where dissent is not heard, so he was utterly unprepared for the idea that Colbert might use the opportunity to criticize him. Likewise, the Chinese leadership lives in a bubble where open dissent is not permitted, censorship is everywhere, and people will only criticize the government in private. After all those years of living in a heavily censored society, I think the idea that someone might actually stand up and speak out, publicly and in full view of everyone, is just inconceivable to them.

  2. 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!
  3. 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?

  4. Dear Diary by zappepcs · · Score: 3, Funny

    I woke up in China this morning. The place smells funny.
    The group went to a sporting event today, kind of exciting.
    Hopefully tomorrow I'll hear some music I like
    Goodnight

    --
    Support NYCountryLawyer RIAA vs People
  5. What would happen? by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 4, Interesting

    So... What exactly would happen to an athlete who violated this "rule"? Would they lose any medals? Be banned from competing? It's one thing to make such "rules", another to enforce them.

    --
    If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
  6. In the good old times... by mangu · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Olympic athletes used to be *amateurs*! I once met Lasse Viren, a gold medallist in the 1972 and 1976 Olympics. He was a police officer in Finland, was never paid to run, didn't make any commercials, was never sponsored by anyone.


    Today, the commercial spirit is so strong they have to carefully delimit anything that's published, pictures or words, about the event. Blogs must be carefully examined, lest there's something in there that might diminish the profits of the advertisers...


    As they used to say when the Olympics were performed in the interests of sport alone, "O Tempora, O Mores!"

    1. Re:In the good old times... by Deadstick · · Score: 4, Informative
      Olympic athletes used to be *amateurs*!

      Yes they were, 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"...he'd be right at home in China.

      rj

    2. 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. 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!"
  8. No Commercial Gain by Blue+Stone · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I love this bit: "Also, athletes cannot use their blogs for commercial gain."

    Never mind that the modern Olympics has become rife with corporate sponsorship and bribery allegations. Just as long as the people who are supposed to count in all this - the athletes - don't make any money! Blech.

    The thing that really gets me, though, is that althletes are not allowed to make political statements in the stadium - a stadium which is a political statement in itself: 'Hey guys! China's really quite nice! Never mind us raping Tibet, killing our own people and all that - look: Shiny Olympics! We're part of the civilized world! See!'

    --
    Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility. - Ambrose Bierce
    1. Re:No Commercial Gain by coppro · · Score: 5, Informative

      I love this bit: "Also, athletes cannot use their blogs for commercial gain." Never mind that the modern Olympics has become rife with corporate sponsorship and bribery allegations. Just as long as the people who are supposed to count in all this - the athletes - don't make any money! Blech. The IOC does it's very best to keep the Olympics non-commercial. As an example, you will see zero corporate logos on athlete equipment - it's completely forbidden at the the Olympics, though this form of sponsorship is quite common anywhere else. Preventing the athletes from commercializing their experiences at the games is important - it's true to the founding ideals of the games, and keeps it a competition, rather then "I got to the Olympics, so now I'm going to make $2 million writing about it." Look at the entertainment industry. It's sick and disgusting how much anyone in any form of entertainment (including professional sports) gets paid. They can go say how great some random product is, and they'll get paid millions for that endorsement. Imagine what would happen if athletes could use blogs in the same way: "I got up this morning to eat my Kellog's Corn Flakes Cereal because I really enjoy it and it helps me compete" and then get a massive dumping of money. The IOC is correct in banning commercial gain. I agree to a lesser extent as to the other policies - it makes sense to say that the athletes can't say stuff about each other, because blogs tend to be much more personal than interviews, and so some sexist or racist comments or drug accusations or whatnot might slip through, and the backlash would be much worse than these restrictions are.
  9. Re:Copyright?!?!?! by FooAtWFU · · Score: 4, Informative

    Still pictures are allowed as long as they do not show Olympic events Who copyrighted the Olympics?!? The IOC. Then they sell out the rights for a massive profit.

    It's also trademarked to Hell and back.

    --
    The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
  10. Link to non-registration by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/cs-080215-blogging-olympics-ioc,1,7510480.story

    Here is the link to the article without registration.

  11. 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!
  12. 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.

  13. The Rules by owlnation · · Score: 4, Funny

    The First Rule of the Olympics is:

    You don't talk about the Olympics.

  14. Re:China can't just come in take athletes way to p by Oktober+Sunset · · Score: 4, Informative

    no they can't, china are just the host, its the IOC that have the say on that.

    --
    What if Tetris was invented by Nazis?
  15. Further restrictions for New Zealanders by Airw0lf · · Score: 5, Informative

    Are athletes going to be allowed to blog about Chinese human rights issues? If you're an athlete from New Zealand, probably not. They seem to have been asked to sign an agreement that prevents them from making political comments about the Chinese regime. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/02/14/sports/OLY-New-Zealand-Free-Speech.php
  16. 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.

  17. 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.