Pirate-free 2010 Olympics?
p2pnet view P2P | TV:- During the Beijing Olympics, in a fruitless attempt to use DRM to make sure no one shared without paying, the Communist authorities hired [wait for it] SafeNet, former owner of disgraced RIAA ‘investigator’ MediaSentry, to stop pirate broadcasts.
As p2pnet pointed out, aside from the fact SafeNet’s MediaSentry had proved beneficial only for shareholders and the entertainment cartels, “Olympics will be televised around the world – what’s the point of MediaSentry securing the online portion?” – asked Billy in a Reader’s Write.
“Maybe I’m missing something,” he said, “but locking down a small piece of the event while free-airing around the world most of the same content seems more like a political showing than a practical exercise.”
Now it’s Olympics time in BC, Canada — the Winter Olympics, that is. Kinda. And NBCU is already worried unprincipled pirates will snag its broadcasts.
What to do !? What to do !?
It’s “de-emphasizing its focus on streaming the games live on the Web in favor of short highlight clips,” says MediaWeek. And it’s “doing its damnedest to make sure that fans can’t find unauthorized or illegally posted live footage of any events”, says the story.
Blogging news is already banned.
“Rule 49 of the Olympic Charter states “Only those persons accredited as media may act as journalists, reporters or in any other media capacity”, p2pnet last year.
Now, “One of the things we learned in Beijing is that people really go to the Web for highlights,” MediaWeek has Perkins Miller, NBC digital media guy saying.
Oh, really? 
“NBC is planning to actively police the Web during the games, using tools to crawl the Web and block content automatically whenever possible (NBC commonly utilizes YouTube’s Content ID tools to do this),” says the story, going on >>>
NBC is also issuing rapid takedown notices when needed.
“Our aim is to make access to pirated material inconvenient, low quality and hard to find,” said Rick Cotton, NBC’s evp and general counsel. In terms of Web piracy, “you are never going to go to zero. But there has been a sea change in terms of recognition of the problem.”
Hmmm. Rick Cotton, Rick Cotton. Where have we seen that name before?
Oh Yeh! He’s the clueless twit who once said on behalf of Hollywood, “In the absence of movie piracy, video retailers would sell and rent more titles. Movie theatres would sell more tickets and popcorn. Corn growers would earn greater profits and buy more farm equipment.”
Meanwhile, it’s an unseasonably mild in the Vancouver area of BC and as things stand, defeating Olympics piracy may be the least of concerns.
Officials are desperately flying and trucking in snow, and padding sites with bales of hay to provide bulk underneath it
Says China Daily >>>
As Olympians arrive by the day, the Winter Games seem to be missing something. Namely, winter.
Vancouver Olympic officials have touted these as “The Green Games,” but Mother Nature might be taking that to an extreme. Some Vancouverites are now referring to them as “The Brown Games,” given the muddy conditions at Cypress Mountain.
“When I got off the airplane it was like, ‘What’s this green grass doing here? This is the Winter Olympics,”‘ United States speedskater Trevor Marsicano said Sunday, recalling his reaction after flying in last week from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. “For me it’s nice, because I’m used to, like, zero degrees. This is awesome.”
If the warm weather continues …
Stay tuned.
(Cheers, BC Bud)
..… and identi.ca
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi
disgraced RIAA ‘investigator’ – MediaSentry scandal continues, November 7, 2009
p2pnet – Beijing Olympics pirate radio broadcast, August 8, 2008
MediaWeek – NBCU Fights Olympics Piracy, February 7, 2010
p2pnet – Olympic blogs OK for Vancouver, May 15, 2009
clueless twit – Hollywood plan to save corn farmers, June 27, 2007
China Daily – areWinter missing in Vancouver as Games approach, February 8, 2010
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As Olympians arrive by the day, the Winter Games seem to be missing something. Namely, winter.
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 Members of Estonia’s cross country team check out the course at Whistler Olympic Park during a free practice session for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics in Whistler, British Columbia February 6, 2010. Picture is taken with a tilt and shift lense. [Photo/Agencies] |
Vancouver Olympic officials have touted these as “The Green Games,” but Mother Nature might be taking that to an extreme. Some Vancouverites are now referring to them as “The Brown Games,” given the muddy conditions at Cypress Mountain.
“When I got off the airplane it was like, ‘What’s this green grass doing here? This is the Winter Olympics,”‘ United States speedskater Trevor Marsicano said Sunday, recalling his reaction after flying in last week from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. “For me it’s nice, because I’m used to, like, zero degrees. This is awesome.”
