YouTube Carrying Olympic Video ... with a Caveat
International Olympic Committee: YouTube channel won’t be available in United States, Canada, most of Europe.
By Alex Weprin -- Broadcasting & Cable, 8/4/2008 10:48:00 AM
The International Olympic Committee said it is starting a dedicated YouTube channel that will feature extensive video from the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
The channel, however, will not be accessible to visitors from countries that have digital video-on-demand deals with the IOC already. In other words, if you live in the United States, Canada, or most of Europe, you won’t be able to watch any (official) Olympic videos on the Google-owned site.
In the United States, NBC will offer far more online coverage than the IOC, but it requires Microsoft Silverlight software and certain events will not be available online until after a broadcast window.
Among the 77 countries that will be able to view the channel: India, the Republic of Korea, Indonesia and Nigeria.
The IOC said it hopes that by making officially licensed video available worldwide through channels such as YouTube, it is limiting the risk associated with piracy infringement.
“The IOC’s priority is to ensure that as many people as possible get to experience the magic of the Olympic Games and the inspirational sporting achievements of the Olympic athletes,” IOC director of television and marketing services Timo Lumme said in a statement. “The IOC’s channel will make fantastic Olympic footage available where young generations of sports fans are already going for online entertainment and will complement the footage offered in these territories by our broadcast partners across all media platforms.”
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Boooo!
So what can you do? I hate to say Boycott the games as I want to see our USA team compete and win. Well, I'd like to see them compete which is the problem. I have sent emails to NBC, USOC and IOC voicing my concerns. I have also added to my email signature to Boycott NBC for their SliverThorn BS.
USOC, please take note: WE want to see the games not be blocked or forced to download more crap. Stick with open standards. IOC: you're greedy and I hope that a backlash of consumer opinion forces a change in management. Stop marginalizing your Games for the sake of a few dollars more. YouTube: shame on you. You seem to have forgotten what launched your business.
Open standards and compatibility with everyone.
Blaine - 8/5/2008 10:36:00 AM EDT -
So, in otherwords, the YouTube channel is useless: empty promises from the IOC just as the promised freedom of the press during the games.
Chuck - 8/4/2008 3:55:00 PM EDT
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