As the Salt Lake City Olympics commence, one of the world"s most widely watched sporting events will be noticeably absent from the Internet -- again.
Just as in the Sydney 2000 Olympics, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has banned any unauthorized webcasts of Olympic events or other related audio and video products in order to protect television broadcasters" multi-million dollar rights deals.
The IOC"s webcast ban is nothing new. But this year, Olympic officials are allowing limited live Web broadcasts in a test to see whether technology can restrict access to video geographically.
In an unprecedented move, the IOC has granted limited Internet broadcasting rights to Swiss television rights holder Television Suisse Romande, which will feature live streaming Olympics broadcasts on its website.
That the IOC is even considering online streaming has taken some sports journalists by surprise.
"The change is that the IOC is willing to stick its toe into the water and take a look at streaming video online," said Steve Klein, co-founder of SportsEditor.com. "It"s a breakthrough but it"s a breakthrough that won"t see any changes until 2008, when the IOC negotiates new contracts."