IOC AND RTE out do China
RTÉ Radio Olympics 2008 Coverage
Due to International Olympic Council Internet broadcasting rights restrictions RTÉ is prohibited from making Olympic content accessible outside the island of Ireland (the territory).
These rights restrictions prohibit RTÉ from making any audio content broadcast live from, or recorded in, an accredited Olympic venue available outside the territory.
Because of the nature of RTÉ Radio’s comprehensive Beijing 2008 Olympic Games coverage the only manner in which RTÉ can comply with these rights restrictions is to regretfully make all our live Radio streams and the majority of our archived programmes available only within Ireland for the duration of the Olympic Games.
We do realise that this is of annoyance and inconvenience to our users abroad for which we sincerely apologise.
A limited number of programmes will be made available post-broadcast worldwide, in an edited format, during the Olympic Games. Please check the programme website to see if this is the case.
Did you try and appeal?
Yes. The EBU made a number of appeals to the IOC, but was rejected.
Why not just block the Olympics themselves?
Because the restriction is not just limited to highlights of the Games, but it expands to any footage filmed within the 'accredited' area or interviews conducted within the 'accredited' area. For instance, if Pat Kenny was to interview an Irish person via a mobile phone and they happened to be in an official Olympic car, we cannot play that interview outside of Ireland.
Realistically, this means we need to block all live streams, radio and television, because we cannot monitor all of the streams 24 hours.
Question is will anybody else be monitoring this and objecting to Pat Kenny interviewing an Irish athlete live?
How about a program on censorious capitalist copyright restrictions RTE?
p Heres a good article on it from US reporter with an Irish husband who noticed the problem
NBC exclusive deal means no live ceremony on US TV
Another blog describing NBC lame coverage
1 comment:
I came across your blog during a Google search to see if there are others like myself totally incensed over the RTÉ internet censorship during the Olympics. My personal interest is in RTÉ’s Irish Language radio station, Raidió Na Gaeltachta. This media has been my most valuable tool for the past 5 years in learning this beautiful, endangered and (for the most part)under appreciated language . Being cut off from the contact I have always been able to have with this station is very distressing and is not sitting too well with me. This sort of thing did not happen with the Games in Athens in 2004. It is unthinkable that a sudden ban would be enforced on a station broadcasting in a language which unfortunately even many of the citizens of its own country don’t understand let alone the rest of the world! How ludicrous is it to believe that suddenly the whole world or anyone would be tuning in online to listen to any chance commentary about the Beijing Olympics in Irish Gaelic as opposed to watching it on NBC or their local licensed television networks wherever they may be. Absolutely absurd! What an infringement on human rights! That being said, I sympathize with all listeners outside of Ireland who are being deprived of their favorite talk, news or music programs on their favorite RTE station. Take heart one and all, each passing day brings us one day closer to the end of this censorship nonsense and the Olympic Games and hopefully back to freedom of speech and freedom of internet access. Thanks for giving me a chance to let off some steam.
Beir bua
YK
Montreal, Canada
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