Fergie's Tech Blog

Beijing Olympic Web Restrictions to Be Lifted

A Reuters newswire article, via The New York Times, reports that:

The International Olympic Committee and the Chinese organizers BOCOG have agreed to lift all Internet restrictions for media covering the Beijing Games, the IOC told Reuters on Friday.

"The issue has been solved," vice-president Gunilla Lindberg said. "The IOC Coordination Commission and BOCOG met last night and agreed. Internet use will be just like in any Olympics."

The issue had caused a major stir days before the start of the August 8-24 Olympics with IOC officials insisting there would be no censorship and BOCOG saying sensitive sites would remain blocked.

In a statement issued late on Thursday, the IOC had said it was expecting BOCOG to solve the issue and said it has always made clear that media representatives should have full access to the Internet.

posted by Fergie @ 7/31/2008 10:55:00 PM