Recall that organizers of the 2007 Pan American Games banned blogging during the event:
To placate TV, athletes and coaches will not be allowed to blog from the Games. No MySpace. No Facebook. No YouTube. No Flickr.
That stupid decision was so unenforceable that when I later (on Facebook) asked athletes about the regulations, they told me they had never even been informed of the ban.
The International Olympic Committee, by comparison, has taken, for them, a surprisingly enlightened position. Even I can live with these regulations:
GENEVA — Let the blogging begin.
The IOC has given athletes the right to blog at the Beijing Games this summer, a first for the Olympics, as long as they follow the many rules it set to protect copyright agreements, confidential information and security.
Blogging is a “legitimate form of personal expression,” the International Olympic Committee said.
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.
“It is required that, when accredited persons at the games post any Olympic content, it be confined solely to their own personal Olympic-related experience,” the IOC said.
The debate over blogging has been a difficult one for the IOC, which has been concerned that the online journals might infringe on copyright agreements or release confidential information during the Aug. 8-24 Beijing Olympics.
Bloggers are prevented from posting audio clips or videos of “any Olympic events, including sporting action, opening, closing and medal ceremonies or other activities which occur within any zone which requires an Olympic identity and accreditation card [or ticket] for entry.”
Still pictures are allowed as long as they do not show Olympic events. …
Athletes allowed to blog from Beijing, with restrictions – ESPN
More details after the link.
This will be the best Olympics ever for those of us who like the personal perspective delivered by athletes and coaches themselves.
(via Straight to the Bar)
I wonder what the Chinese organizers think of this decision. China bans many of the popular blogging sites. Olympians may need to email their photos and text out of the country to be uploaded by friends and family.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 