Olympic Blogger athletes will be Banned in China?

Anybody remember how the athletes were banned from blogging about their exploits during the 2004 Olympics in Greece? The Olympic Blogger in the Athletes may have still have to be cuffed still for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Looks like the I.O.C is going to make the same policy for the Beijing 2008 Olympics. Why? Because internet media is big business next only to T.V. The I.O.C is selling T.V. & internet rights through bidding. The I.O.C has recently completed the deal with a Hong Kong-based media company for sole broadcast rights in Hong Kong only. Sadly, I would have to say the Olympics is also Economics. Organizers will need to recover staging expenses to keep the games running for future generations to see. The I.O.C. says the athletes & other participants are prohibited from doing so in order to protect the interests of broadcast rights-holders and accredited media & keep themselves focused being athletes not as journalists.

Athletes will be banned from posting anything that relates to their experiences, thoughts & especially first-hand accounts while they are competing until the the Beijing 2008 Olympics end on 8-24-2008. Included in the restrictions are posting of videos & pictures taken by them or for them.



If you want to back track on the story of the athletes being banned back in the 2004 Olympics, here's the CBNews link back in 8-20-2004:

Putting Brakes On Olympic Blogs - Athletes may be the center of attention at the Olympic Games, but don't expect to hear directly from them online - or see snapshots or video they've taken. The International Olympic Committee is barring competitors, as well as coaches, support personnel and other officials, from writing firsthand accounts for news and other Web sites.An exception is if an athlete has a personal Web site that they did not set up specifically for the Games.

Here is the I.O.C link discussing their rules in bidding for TV & internet rights:

TV & Internet RightsThe International Olympic Committee (IOC) opened the tender process yesterday for the sale of the internet and mobile platform exhibition rights for the territory of China for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing 2008. The Invitation to Tender issued by the IOC provides organisations interested in acquiring the rights with specific guidelines regarding the transmission of Olympic broadcast material over the internet and to mobile platforms within the Chinese mainland.

Here's link where the I.O.C awarded the TV rights to i-cable for the Hong Kong broadcast of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver in 2010 and the next Summer games in London 2012 Olympics.

6 August 2007 Hong Kong--The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today announced an agreement with i-CABLE Sports Limited, a subsidiary of i-CABLE Communications Limited (i-CABLE), for the exclusive internet and mobile platform exhibition broadcast rights within the territory of Hong Kong for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. i-CABLE have also acquired the exclusive Broadcast and Exhibition rights across all media platforms for the Olympic Games in Vancouver in 2010 and London in 2012 within the territory of Hong Kong.

2008 Olympics