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Is there such a thing now as the digital revolution?

Monday, July 28th, 2008

In a recent article Digital revolution could be Olympics’ salvation towards the end it is stated that “digital marketplace has the potential to re-engage hundreds of millions of people with sport” I really wonder if again the interwebz are being touted as the savior for failing interest. I understand the reasoning set is to:

The long-term goal of the IOC in embracing modern technology is to try to get young people away from their video consoles and out into the fresh air to play sport and stay healthy.

But really if technology has anything to say about it - it’s that I can record it and watch it later - nothing which has me outside and breathing fresh air. From a communication standpoint I agree the Internet has a great potential to really explode the sporting aspect of the Olympics, but that’s it. And in this light the IOC has completely “epic” failed.

In company with other major sports federations, the IOC keeps a very tight rein on its showpiece occasions and views video postings on sites like YouTube as a threat to its rights holders, who can broadcast on television and a number of digital platforms.

The IOC uses video-fingerprinting technology and Web-crawling (monitoring) techniques to prevent unauthorized content being uploaded and track illegal content on Web sites.

This tells me that the content that is shared is “controlled” which is where we should be raising a real stink. Sure for sponsorship (money) and image (money)Â controlling the communication is a great way to place an embargo on communication - but it won’t succeed. Or at the very least it will be hard to not have this be a damaging fact of a “blackout”. I’m saddened by the fact that sponsorship is what is defining how this all works - since when should the world be united by corporate interests - oh wait never mind I should not get into politics.

So my concern is two fold - first I am saddened that with the technologies of communication smacking them in the face they are still so concerned about sponsorship and participation that a controlled content dispersion regime has been erected. Secondly, how would one really be able to pull off a “blackout” as being a good thing? It seems that they’re getting good news for it now- but I really am curious about the backlash. What are your thoughts?

Posted in Communication, Rant | Comments Off

Archive for the 'Communication' Category

Is there such a thing now as the digital revolution?

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