Author:
Blog About:
Taxonomy upgrade extras:
London's dystopian Olympics: criminal sanctions for violating the exclusivity of sponsors' brands
BOING BOING | APRIL 14, 2012
By Cory Doctorow at 5:50 am Saturday, Apr 14
As London ramps up for the 2012 Olympics, a dystopian regime of policing and censorship on behalf of the games' sponsors is coming online. A special squad of "brand police" will have the power to force pubs to take down signs advertising "watch the games on our TV," to sticker over the brand-names of products at games venues where those products were made by companies other than the games' sponsors, to send takedown notices to YouTube and Facebook if attendees at the games have the audacity to post their personal images for their friends to see, and more. What's more, these rules are not merely civil laws, but criminal ones, so violating the sanctity of an Olympic sponsor could end up with prison time for Londoners.
Comments
See
we do dystopian better than anyone! It's the one assured gold medal.
I suppose the real meaning of the Olympics these days - money. Oh well, it held out longer than religion, which sold its soul about a thousand years ago.
Tea party - would depend upon the brand, sis, otherwise it could get stickered!
Angharad.
Angharad
Backfire
I sense that the effort will be a wasted one,, tagging a few people but making even more people very resentful and rebellious. I sense lost sales and a public willing to ignore brands into bankruptcy. I do not wear clothing with brand names plastered on them and I am using unknown branded produces that work avoiding name brands that do not work any better. We have the choice we need to use it.
The only bad question is the one not asked.
is that
Terry Pratchetts Tea Party? oh no that was Tea Time, silly me!
Not an Olympic brand as far as i know but how does it affect North Notts Olympic with whom Drew is known to cavort? Rename to Jubilee i guess - the Queen is less pedantic and money grabbing and after all that is the premier event of the year after all it only comes every 60 years rather than a paltrey 4!
Madeline Anafrid Bell
Olympic Pizza
This pizzaria was in business under the name Olympic Pizza on Olympic Ave for 23 years in Vancouver BC (2010 olympics) The olympic committee tried to force them to change their name. It went to court and was appealed by the olympic committee a couple of times as each time the cafe won its court case.
In the final appeal a judgement was made for 'punitive' damages (legal fees plus inconvenience) of many tens of thousands of dollars. We all cheered! [I don't remember the exact settlement]
Dayna.
Somebody needs a tea party!
Novels 1984 and Animal Farm made real
May Your Light Forever Shine
BOSTON Tea Party
For those of you that live in a country that understandably tries to downplay the events back in the 1770s, one of the trigger events for the rebellion was the Tea Act, a tax imposed only on the American colonies. The unloading of three ships hauling taxed tea was blocked by the American resistance, but the British governor refused to send the ships back still loaded. The resistance group boarded the ships and dumped the tea overboard. This became later known as the Boston Tea Party, and was a trigger event that culminated in the colonies declaring their independence from Britain.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Tea_Party
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin
Dystopian Olympics
You might have trouble using the term Dystopian Olympics to describe this travesty. The word olympics is copyrighted and jealously guarded.
It was a different governing body, but very much spiritual kindreds of these bozos that three weeks before the flaming torch ceremony (sorry) that was to open the first Gay Olympics in 1982 sued the organizers (Former Olympic gold medalist Dr Tom Wadell among others) to prevent them from putting the words gay and olympics together for the name of their event, fearing that this would sully the reputation of the "real" olympics.
The US Olympics Committee claimed it had nothing to do with homophobia, but simply that they didn't allow use of the trademarked word OLYMPICS by other organizations. Although somehow they hadn't had a problem with the the Special Olympics, the Police Olympics and the Nebraska Rat Olympics...
Well you can't fight City Hall. The USOC won the suit and the t-shirts and banners and the name of the event had to be changed to the Gay Games, which went on as planned and has become an athletic institution in its own right. So yeah, the Olympics are very protective of their franchise and they protect their sponsor friends (McDonalds: The Official Pink Slime of the 2012 London OLympics) with a scary zeal.
I'm just glad they're not in my town. If Los Angeles 1984 was any indication, if you have to be in London during the games take public transportation rather than drive since finding a parking space will be impossible, and give yourself an extra hour to get anywhere you're going. It's gonna be a zoo...
hugs, veronica
And remember...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifLqzLEB3E0
I am so looking forward - not!
I work in Weymouth three days a week. Now most people have never heard of Weymouth, including half those who live in Dorchester, and I'd be quite happy to keep it that way. Unfortunately, all the sailing events for the 2012 'Lympics, are in Weymouth and Portland harbour.
The local powers that be, and national government have spent a fortune on facilities, tax payer's money of course, but none of the locals are interested unless they have snouts in the trough. It's going to stop local fishing boats and pleasure craft from plying their daily business, roads will be closed so the 'Lympic politbureau can sail through unhindered, and I suspect life will be a total pain in Weymouth and Portland during that time. I'm hoping I can cycle to work because I suspect driving will be an ordeal.
It strikes me that these multinational organisations act like they own the place, perhaps they do, but I tend to think the risk of terrorism is relatively small, seeing as most terrorists will never have heard of Weymouth, though they might have heard of London. It's in 'Merica innit?
Angharad
Distopia indeed
If you knew London you would also know that most people do that anyway because parking in central London is only for rich expats and bankers. The only difference being that outside the Games, it is possible to park at the disused railway yards that are Stratford. But who would want to?
Transport for London (TfL) have been running an awareness campaign for some months to the effect that their systems are going to be hard pressed (ie overwhelmed), so 'please stay away'. I will be doing just that! A lot of trans-national finance companies located in Docklands have already had trial runs at keeping as many workers at home as they can, to do so during the Games. (Most of the transport systems to Stratford from the centre of London also serve Docklands.)
My own tiny resistance movement is not to let out my house. I could - the kids would take us for the four weeks - and I have been approached by Agents with offers on eight separate occasions. Of course those approaches come from snout-in-the-trough chancers, so there's a lot of risk to set against potential financial upside, and I look forward to seeing all the "I let my house out, haven't received my money, can't trace the Agent" stories.
Xi
Branding
There's a pretty big example just up the road from me. For the duration of the Games, the Ricoh Arena in Coventry will be rebranded "The City of Coventry Stadium". Given all the road signs point to the "Arena" and there's a retail park next door called "Arena Park", I pity any tourist asking for directions to "The City of Coventry Stadium" - not to mention any locals clued up will probably reply "Oh, you mean The Ricoh!"
Oh, and the rules don't just extend to sponsors - they also apply to the branding of the event itself - so if you're not an official sponsor, you can't advertise your product with any combination of Olympic / Olympian / Paralympic / Paralympian / London / 2012 etc. Already an art event coincident with the games has been threatened with legal action for mentioning 2012 in its title...
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
Ludicrous
This is so ludicrous that it's funny!