Posting Photos of Olympics Could Land You In Court

hypnosec writes "With London's summer 2012 games due to take place in the very near future, you'd think that organizers would make more of an effort and persuade people to show more of an interest — yet it appears the complete opposite has happened, with strict guidelines banning athletes from posting photos of themselves on Twitter with products that aren't official Olympics sponsors, as well as prohibiting videos or photos to be taken from the athlete's village. Oh and just for good measure, fans could find themselves barred from sharing videos and photos on Facebook and YouTube of themselves delighting in said Olympics action."

Comments

Another

[geekoid]

reason not to watch the Olympics

Re:Another

[h4rr4r]

Mod parent up.

If the crazy rules about non-professional professionals and what they do to the cities they visit was not enough here is another good reason to ignore them.

Re:Another

[thereitis]

Yeah, the Olympics is a bigger crock of shit every year. I feel sorry for the athletes - they need a better venue. Half the sports are about being 1/100th of a second faster than second place which is insignificant, really. You could catch a gust of wind and lose that amount of time. They're all the best in the world - nuff said.

Re:Another

[Anonymous Coward]

What do you expect? The entire thing is about monies from advertising.

While it's nice to actually watch events, bullshit rules surrounding the events being broadcast, and rules like this restricting the fans and athletes are exactly while I'll likely skip the whole thing.

Here's a case study: want to see how Capitalism can destroy something? Look at the Olympics.

Re:Another

[Anonymous Coward]

For what it's worth, I don't really understand the obsession people have with sports. It's like I've got a kind of colour blindness or something.

It's the same reason why everyone else doesn't really understand our obsessions with cartoons, comic books, cult TV shows, and video games. Well, almost the same reason, in that we know our obsessions are way more importanter!

Re:Another

[Darinbob]

Problem is that these sorts of rules diminish advertising revenue. Money comes from external advertisers and they want people to watch the Olympics; it's the whole point of giving advertising dollars to the IOC so that more eyeballs see their ads and see athletes using their products. If the eyeballs stop watching that backfires. If the additional word of mouth about a product dries up then that hurts the product. People won't care about the athletes if they don't do any sort of promotion and only appear for a few minutes during official coverage, and they certainly won't care about what the footwear the athlete prefers this way.

Re:Another

[CheeseyDJ]

want to see how Capitalism can destroy something? Look at the Olympics.

Couldn't agree more. If any more evidence was required, just consider the "official Olympic restaurant"...

You guessed it: McDonald's.

I can't actually think of a less suitable sponsor for the Olympics.

I feel sorry for the athletes but...

[oraclese]

fuck the olympics. It's become exactly what it isn't supposed to be: a corporate circle-jerk to exploit potential for advertising revenue. The athletes come second, if they are lucky.

My first reaction...

[multiben]

...was bullshit. That can't be right. Then I RTFA. Holy shit! Way to go London - bring that Orwellian dream to life!

Re:My first reaction...

[Midnight Thunder]

Remember this is the same country that wants to apply censorship to the internet by default.

Maybe you should write to your MP and even see if the European parliament considers this legal.

Empty Threat?

[alostpacket]

I'd love to see them try to actually take someone to court over this.

Just like Burning Man

[bandy]

All your images are owned by us. God, I love the Corporatocracy.

Re:Just like Burning Man

[houghi]

What has Banksy to say about it? http://thequotesproject.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/brandalism.jpg

People are taking the piss out of you everyday. They butt into your life, take a cheap shot at you and then disapear. They leer at you from tall buildings and make you feel small. They make flippant comments from buses that imply you're not sexy enough and that all the fun is happening somewhere else. They are on tv making your girlfriend feel inadequate.
They have access to the most sophisticated technology the world has ever seen and they bully you with it.
They are the advertisers and they are laughing at you.

You, however are forbidden to touch them. Trademarks, intellectual property and copyright law mean advertisers can say what they like wherever they like with total impunity.

Fuck that.

Any advert in a public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours.
It's yours yo take, re-arrange and re-use. You can do whatever you like with it. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rocj someone just threw at your head.

Your owe the companies nothing.
Less then nothing, you especially don't owe them any courtesy. They owe you. They have re-arranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission, don't even start asking for theirs. //Banksy

Really?

[Fishbulb]

Are they completely ignorant of the ubiquity of cameras today? Forget the fact that most of those cameras are attached to something that can easily upload images to the world at large.

This deserves a flash-mob style constant bombardment of images from the Olympics being uploaded during the games. Even if we get bored to tears of the sheer volume of Olympics photos uploaded, just overwhelm them with the obviousness of their own stupidity.

Care?

[WillyWanker]

Does anyone even care about the Olympics anymore?

Re:Care?

[NonUniqueNickname]

Does anyone even care about the Olympics anymore?

The athletes? Their families? Friends? Nations? In places where corporate sponsorships and performance-enchancing drugs aren't common, it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to earn a place among the world's best. Hard work and dedication are still admired world-wide.

Re:Retarded British Authorities

[donaggie03]

Welcome to America . . wait . . .

Re:How's that for promoting international cooperat

[shutdown -p now]

What sounds completely insane to me is that UK actually had to create special new laws regarding copyright etc in the context of the Olympics for the benefit of IOC here. Do countries really value their sovereignty so little?

Re:So let's see...

[Fned]

You wouldn't have to work so hard if you weren't covering for that guy who spends all his time rooting through people's bags.

Re:This 21st Century isn't really starting right.

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

All movement is accomplished in six stages
And the seventh brings return.
The seven is the number of the young light
It forms when darkness is increased by one.

Change returns success
Going and coming without error.
Action brings good fortune.
Sunset.

Re:No surprise here

[sapphire wyvern]

Given that the Red Cross has traditionally had an internationally-recognized and (usually) protected role in theatres of conflict (along with its Islamic counterpart, the Red Crescent) I can understand why that organization's markings are deserving of protection above and beyond that of mere trademarks.

But screw the Olympics. They can just use trademarks like any other part of the entertainment, media & advertising industrial complex.

"Inspire a generation" being the motto...

[Sosarian Avatar]

After reading the above, I was quite amused to see the BBC's cheery comment on Google+ that

The motto of the London Olympics has also been revealed: "Inspire a generation".

Of course, acting like fascists does tend to inspire people, just not usually in a way the fascists agree with...