New Media Mogul

In ‘Blogging for gold at Beijing’ I’ve previously outlined the IOC’s plan on New Media Mogul to let athletes maintain personal blogs surrounding the games, provided they don’t comment on the performances of other athletes or upload audiovisual content they have created of an Olympic event.

Speaking more generally, it would appear that the IOC considers blogging to be ‘a legitimate form of personal expression’ rather than journalism. To quote the IOC’s official statement on these blogs;

‘Therefore, the IOC does not consider that blogs by Accredited Persons, in accordance with these Guidelines, will compromise paragraph 3 of Bye-law to Rule 49 of the Olympic Charter which states that “Only those persons accredited as media may act as journalists, reporters or in any other media capacity”.

It would appear then that blogs of personal commentary surrounding the Olympics by citizen journalists are also permissible, but that posts appearing on sites such as Nowpublic and Wikinews may contravene the IOC’s bylaws. But then again, what exactly is the difference between personal expression and journalism? The IOC’s only attempt at clearing this up is to say that a blog is a type of website where entries appear in a reverse chronological order. Entries also tend to appear in reverse chronological order on the aforementioned citizen news sites.

In the same document, the IOC puts forward its policy on audivisual recordings being made at the games;

The dissemination of moving images of the Games through any media, including display on the Internet, is a part of the IOC’s intellectual property rights. No sound or moving images (including sequences of still photographs which simulate moving images) 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 – e.g. competition and practice venues, Olympic Village, Main Press Centre – (“Accredited Zones”) may be made available, whether on a live or delayed basis, regardless of source.

This prohibition also extends to still images, which must also be taken from within accredited areas. It is unclear just how the IOC plans to police this, because with technology the way it is, 90% of people entering a stadium could be carrying a camera built into their cellular telephones. No information about entry conditions to the Olympics appears to be available on the official site at this point in time, but a cursory look at the ‘audiovisual policies’ of major Australian sporting grounds reveals they’re out of step with modern technology.

Under the Melbourne Cricket Ground’s conditions of entry audio recording equipment and video cameras are prohibited, except in cases where the parents of Auskick participants are trying to enter the ground with this equipment and in these cases it is permissible (presumably with some sort of proof that the person does have a child participating in Auskick). Telstra Dome prohibits professional cameras, audio recording equipment or video cameras. The SCG Trust, which operates the Sydney Cricket Ground and the Sydney Football Stadium, prohibits anyone to have or operate television, cinematographic or photographic equipment for commercial purposes.

Under the MCG’s conditions of entry, almost every patron should be barred from entering the ground, seeing as the majority of mobile phones are capable of recording video and audio. Under Telstra Dome’s policy it would depend what was considered professional; but the cameras found in some of the latest mobile phones are 5 megapixel, so while they may not be operated in a professional manner, they are certainly capable of capturing a decent picture. The SCG prohibits any commercial use of audiovisual equipment, but with citizen media increasingly gaining recognition, this might be a redundant distinction in a few years time.

There isn’t so much of an issue in Australia as none of the major sporting codes seem as hellbent on maintaining complete control of their intellectual property as the IOC. But certainly the Olympics will be an interesting fortnight for watchers of citizen media like New Media Mogul. Because the only way the IOC is going to maintain complete control over the content that is disseminated from the Olympics is by insisting that every patron check his or her mobile phone at the entry gates. Otherwise there will be thousands of devices capable of capturing and disseminating Olympic content outside of the accredited zones of Olympic stadiums. Television stations have this policy when you go and see a show being recorded, but while this may deprive someone of their mobile phone for a two hour period where they have to be quiet anyway, Olympic events go all day and in this age mobile phones are first and foremost vital communication devices.

So you can be sure that New Media Mogul will keep watching this issue.

To look at the full statement from the International Olympic Committee, click here.