Posting Photos of Olympics Could Land You In Court 394
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."
How's that for promoting international cooperation (Score:5, Interesting)
and goodwill...
Thank you for hosting the Olympics, now please cower in fear of the copyright police.
I appreciate the Olympics, but I'm not giving up my rights just because my country is hosting them.
No thanks.
Dear Olympics Committee (Score:5, Interesting)
!@#$ you. No Really. !@#$ you.
An event dedicated to showcasing the heights of human athleticism, and you've turned it into a cheap money making operation for yourself. You Suck. I will not be watching the olympics.
could end land you (Score:2, Interesting)
olympics are passe (Score:3, Interesting)
No one under 30 cares. It's been xgames where the real athletes compete for more than a decade at this point.
Re:Another (Score:2, Interesting)
Yeup. The last time I willingly watched the olympics, the year was 1976. I don't see that changing this time around.
Re:Another (Score:5, Interesting)
I watched the 2010 Winter Olympics. All of them, as much as I could, in HD on my new TV.
Why? Because as a BC resident, I was going to be footing the FOUR BILLION DOLLAR bill for the rest of my working life. I figured I damned well should watch the spectacle. From the building of the Canada Line to the dead Romanian; from the the failed moving torch to the helicoptering in of snow from other locales to the demolition of the athlete's housing and their reappearance as low-income housing down the street (which, by the way, I think was one good thing to come out of Those Damned Games.), I saw the entire lifecycle.
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.
The Brits will royally screw this one up methinks. (Score:5, Interesting)
Fuck 'em! (Score:5, Interesting)
They occasionally try to sue business with "Olympic" in their name. It has happened several times here in Washington State, where we have a large chunk of the state called the "Olympic Peninsula", and thus a lot of businesses with "Olympic" in their name. A few years ago they tried to tell some dry cleaner out in Port Angeles (in the Olympic Peninsula) that they could not call themselves the "Olympic Cleaners".
Fuck 'em.
Bribes (Score:5, Interesting)
It's a well known (documented) that the London bid team gave bribes to the IoC to win the bid. Strange how not one person from the IoC or the London politicians are in prison. Better throw people in courts for photographing, that'll show those pesky taxpayers who footed the £10bn ($15bn) and rising bill.
Just to add some detail to the "London" Olympics, the BBC has gutted their sports presentation for this event. They've lost half the Formula One coverage (with it going completely on contract end), and recently horse racing, and other sports too just to pay for the Olympics coverage. So while people wonder why for the next few years there will be no sports to watch on the BBC, they can reminisce on the 20-ish days of political jerk-off "sport" they didn't watch for the Olympics.
Re:olympics are passe (Score:5, Interesting)
The what games?
I have watched the games ever since 1992 (Barcelona?). Back then I setup a VCR to tape everything and watch it the next day, because I was on night shift. Now I use an analog DVR (replayTV).
The Olympics are the only form of sport I ever watch, because there's lots of variety, and these are the world's best athletes. Could care less about football, baseball, et cetera. So once every 2 years I watch sports.
Re:Another (Score:5, Interesting)
Athlete's village [google.com]
Posted those years ago. I worked on the fire alarm system for the Athlete's village and took those photos on-site. The system itself is a disaster and totally unsafe.
Go on, sue me.
Re:Another (Score:5, Interesting)
Want to change things? Write a letter (NOT a tweet or email, or facebook posting) to the sponsors' PR departments. Say something like "I'm aware that you've paid $BIGNUM for sponsorship and associated exclusive marketing rights, but guess what? I'm not going to watch, and I'm not going to buy your products." Make sure you CC a copy to the IOC, and one to the local broadcaster.
There was, IIRC, an estimate from marketing research that went something along the lines of "one person who actually takes the trouble to complain represents x number of people who are unhappy, but don't take the trouble to complain". If enough people made their views known to the sponsors, LOC and broadcasters, they just might take notice and change their ways.
And pigs might fly, I know.
Laws even forbid use of words "London" and "2012"! (Score:4, Interesting)
This reminds me of a recent Diamond Geezer post [blogspot.com] lampooning the new legal restrictions on the use of the words "London" and "2012":
He's only half-joking—the British Parliament really did pass a law, the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006 [legislation.gov.uk], which effectively prohibits the use of these words in certain combinations, except by the Olympics organizing committee and its official sponsors.* According to LOCOG's own guidelines [london2012.com], the prohibited expressions are
*Technically, the only real crime is creating a false association between a business and the Olympics, regardless of what language is used, but the Act singles out a number of particular words and expressions for special consideration by the courts.
Re:Another (Score:4, Interesting)
Here's a case study: want to see how Authoritarianism can destroy something? Look at the Olympics.
The IOC is about as anti-competitive an entity as you can get, which is ironic given that their business is putting on competitions.
Re:Another (Score:4, Interesting)
Sounds like the music and film industry. Soon the IOC is going to start complaining that revenues are down, because people in the city see the results for free in newspapers and on the internet and therefore don't feel the need to watch the games with all the adverts. So results will become copyright. Mark my word.