Members of the International Olympic Committee are clearly getting a bit worried about not having access to their emails and messaging clients for a few weeks this summer, and have told China to lessen its internet censorship schemes during the Beijing Olympics.
"Even this morning, we discussed and insisted again... that the Internet is open at all times during Games time," said IOC coordination commission vice chairman Kevan Gosper.
Kevan's main worry isn't just about him being able to change his Facebook status from "is watching the ladies pole vault" to "is watching the diving" whenever he likes - it's the small fact that some 30,000 journalists will be covering the Beijing Olympics, and it's important that that little lot all have access to their various content management systems from China.
China has signed the Olympic "host city agreement" which includes the right of the media to report freely from the games - so if the Communist leaders pull the plug on the web in a sulk when the Chinese fail to win all the weightlifting medals, there'll be trouble.
(Via Reuters)
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