The International Olympic Committee is barring competitors, coaches, support personnel and other officials from blogging from Athens (unless an athlete had a personal Web site not set up specifically for the Olympics), The Associated Press reports.

The IOC says athletes and coaches should not serve as journalists and that the interests of broadcast rights-holders and accredited media come first. To protect lucrative broadcast contracts, athletes and other participants are also prohibited from posting any video, audio or still photos they take themselves, even after the games, unless they get permission ahead of time.

The IOC distributed the policies to each country's Olympic committee in February and threatened to yank credentials from athletes who are in violation, as well as to impose other sanctions or take legal action for any monetary damages. But AP says the IOC has yet to take any action against any athlete.

Meanwhile, some, like gold medalist Scott Goldblatt, continue to blog. Hopefully the IOC won't take any action, because his blog is wonderful.


Source : CyberJournalist