Up until now, athletes have not been able to update their blogs during the Olympics. The International Olympic Committee was too scared about copyright infringement and the release of sensitive information.

Athletes that did update their websites during the 2004 or 2006 games did so without permission from the IOC.

Beginning with Beijing, athletes will be able to update their sites in a limited capacity. All blog updates will need to adhere to certain standards. For example, blog entries…

• …are confined solely to the athlete’s personal Olympic experience…
• …are banned from posting any video or audio from the Games…
• …can not contain any confidential information on 3^rd parties…
• …can only contain still pictures taken outside of accredited areas or personal pictures that do not contain any sporting action…
• …must adhere to the Olympic Spirit and be in good taste.

Bloggers are also not allowed to enter into any commercial agreements and can not reference any sort of advertising. The IOC is mainly concerned with the billions of dollars that are made in the broadcasting contracts of the Games.

I find it a little humorous that athletes are given more freedoms, especially on the internet, during the Olympic Games that are being held in China where there has been some negative publicity regarding human rights issues and online censorship. For example, I know that my website isn’t allowed to filter through to much of the country.

(Further Reading: ESPN)