Let the Web Games Begin By Ann Harrison 02:00 AM Aug. 13, 2004 PT Among the unplanned international sporting events at the 2004 Summer Olympics could be the dodging of regional Internet broadcast restrictions and the unsanctioned relay of live online Olympic broadcasts to Americans. The Summer Olympics, which began Friday in Athens, is the first Olympic Games to be broadcast from a collection of websites. The BBC and other European networks are offering live, on-demand Internet video streaming of Olympic events to broadband viewers. But the BBC and fellow members of the European Broadcasting Union are required by their Olympic broadcast contracts to block U.S. Internet users and others from outside their home counties. NBC paid $793 million for the exclusive U.S. Summer Olympic broadcast rights, and NBCOlympics.com is the only U.S. website licensed by the International Olympic Committee to broadcast video coverage of the games. The network is offering 1,210 hours of Olympic coverage -- live and tape-delayed -- on NBC, CNCB, MSNBC, Bravo, USA, Telemundo and a high-definition channel. Despite its contractual lock on Olympic footage, NBCOlympics.com is offering only highlights of selected events after they have been broadcast on one of the network's TV channels. U.S. customers of AT&T Wireless' mMode information service will also get video clips. By contrast, those online in the United Kingdom can watch live simulcast coverage from BBC TV's five video streams. American TV stations not affiliated with NBC can show up to three 2-minute Olympic video clips a day. But U.S.-based Internet news sites that are not backed by NBC are barred from showing any competition video and can only air news conferences with a 30-minute delay. ... http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,64562,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways: - Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org - By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line.