Athletes Can Blog at Olympics - with Restrictions

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."

Re:Copyright?!?!?!

[FooAtWFU]

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.

Link to non-registration

[Anonymous Coward]

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

Here is the link to the article without registration.

Re:In the good old times...

[Deadstick]

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

Re:Enough is Enough

[Anonymous Coward]

Just to toss in an addendum to that, they just only decided that his leg, when compared with a human leg, was "better" insofar as shock absorption and materials. They didn't actually say anything or bother to test the amount of effort difference from the bit where he doesn't have any muscles in his leg, or how his body worked in comparison with someone else in the same shape who didn't have prosthetics.

Total bullshit. Extensive tests where in fact done that showed he had a significant advantage over runners without the device in question. Fact.

Re:wait what

[hansonc]

If you just think of it as twice every 4 years it's exactly the same as it was up until they separated the winter and summer games into different years.

Re:No Commercial Gain

[coppro]

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.

Re:China can't just come in take athletes way to p

[Oktober Sunset]

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

Further restrictions for New Zealanders

[Airw0lf]

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 [iht.com]