[LINK] Beijing 2008 Olympic Online only for Windows users?

[Tom Worthington]

A blog entry by Tim Bray, speculates that the 
2008 Beijing Olympics will only be available 
online to Microsoft Windows users and those with 
newer Apple Macs. This seems unlikely, as if for 
no other reason it would make the Olympics less 
accessible to the disabled, exposing NBC and 
Microsoft to lawsuits for unlawful discrimination.

---
"Not all is sweetness and light around the 
Olympics. The 2008 version in Beijing will be 
made available online; but only via Silverlight. 
Which means that if you use a Linux or Solaris 
box, or one of the few million pre-Intel Macs 
that are still out there, the Olympic Community 
doesn’t want peons like you on board. This seems 
scandalous to me, but nobody else seems to care. ..."

     From: Tab Sweep — World, Tim Bray, 
2008/01/13 <http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/200x/2008/01/13/Tab-Sweep-World>
---

Just to unravel what is being said: Silverlight 
is a Microsoft developed web browser plugin to 
provide similar features to Adobe Flash 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Silverlight>. 
Tim refers to a blog entry by a Microsoft staff 
member who makes claims about exclusive coverage of the Olympics:

---
     "On 8-8-08 the 2008 Summer Olympic Games 
will officially kick off in Beijing, China. ...

     We have signed an agreement to partner with 
NBC Universal to build a Silverlight 2.0 based 
web broadcast of the 2008 Summer Olympic games. 
This agreement also sets MSN as the official home of the 2008 Summer Olympics.

     As a part of this, we will provide users 
with exclusive access to over 3000 hours of live 
and on-demand video content via Silverlight 
streaming. This means that viewers can access 
every minute of every event. Additionally, the 
amount of meta-data attached to each of the 
streams will be extensive and include links to 
player bios, medal counts, shortcuts to 
particular events (i.e. athlete x’s third 
long-jump attempt), maps of the Olympic 
facilities, pop-up overlays with real-time event 
alerts, headlines, video search capabilities, etc. ..."

     From: 2008 Olympics brought to you by 
Silverlight, January 07, 2008 2:54 AM, Somasegar 
<http://blogs.msdn.com/somasegar/archive/2008/01/07/2008-olympics-brought-to-you-by-silverlight.aspx>
---

This in turn refers to an agreement with NBC, 
which was reported earlier by news sources:

     "... NBC Universal, owner of the exclusive 
U.S. media rights to this summer's Olympic Games 
in Beijing, China (August 8-24, 2008), announced 
today that it was teaming up with MSN and 
Microsoft in an unprecedented strategic alliance 
to create "NBCOlympics.com on MSN", a 
next-generation online experience for Olympic 
fans across the United States. With thousands of 
hours of competition video in both live and 
on-demand formats, deep analysis and results 
delivered from NBC's award-winning broadcast and 
digital media teams, and Microsoft's Silverlight 
technology to deliver deeply immersive user 
experiences, NBCOlympics.com's coverage will be 
powered by MSN and Microsoft technology to 
complement NBC's broadcast programming and put 
millions of fans in control of the Olympic 
sports, athletes and countries they want to watch.
     ....  "NBCOlympics.com on MSN" will deliver:
-- 2,200 hours of live event video coverage, with more than 20
     simultaneous live video streams at peak times
   -- More than 3,000 hours of on-demand video content including full-event
     replays, highlights, features, interviews and encore packages.
     -- An "enhanced playback mode" powered by Silverlight that gives users the
     choice of a high-quality full screen viewing experience that is as good
     or better than anything on the Internet today
     -- Unique metadata overlays powered by Silverlight that enable fans to
     have access not only to high quality video, but also to the wealth of
     related content including results, statistics, comprehensive bios,
     rules and expert analysis from NBC's Olympic digital media team in
     Beijing
     -- Live video alerts so fans can stay connected to the events and teams
     they care most about
     -- Social networking features that enable fans to share aspects of their
     Olympic experience with friends ...

     Adam Freifeld of NBC Sports, +1-201-965-2971, adam.freifeld at nbcuni.com; or
     Adam Sohn of Microsoft, +1-503-443-7000, adamso at microsoft.com"

     From: NBC Universal and Microsoft Team Up On 
Unprecedented Web Offering for 2008 Beijing 
Olympic Games, Reuters, an 6, 2008 9:30pm EST 
<http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS23524+07-Jan-2008+PRN20080107>
---

Some points to note from this:

    1. USA only: The International Olympic 
committee allocates TV rights to the games on a 
country basis. NBC only has the U.S. media rights 
to 2008 Olympics and so whatever is done will only effect those in the USA.

    2. Video Only: The media release was about 
the way video will be delivered online, it does 
not necessary mean that other Olympic 
information, such as text, audio and still images 
will be delivered this way. In addition, even if 
NBC and Microsoft only deliver information in 
this format, similar information should be 
available from other Olympic suppliers.

    3. Accessibility Law: Under the laws of the 
USA, Australia, UK and many other countries, 
organizations providing services via the web are 
required to supply them to persons with a 
disability. Failing to do this is unlawful. This 
principle was established in the 2000 Sydney 
Olympics case. It seems unlikely that NBC or 
Microsoft could fail to be aware of their 
obligation to provide access for the disabled to Olympic coverage.

  I was one of the expert witnesses in the 
accessibility case over the 2000 Olympics and 
invited to Beijing in 2003 to advise on the 2008 Olympic web site. See:

     * Olympic Failure: A Case for Making the Web 
Accessible, INET 2001: Internet Society 
Conference, 8 June 2001, Stockholm <http://www.isoc.org/inet2001/>.
     * Making an Accessible and Functional 
Website for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Beijing 
2008 Olympic Games Official Website Preliminary 
Strategy Plan Symposium, Beijing, November 2003 
<http://www.tomw.net.au/2003/bws.html>.



Tom Worthington FACS HLM tom.worthington at tomw.net.au Ph: 0419 496150
Director, Tomw Communications Pty Ltd            ABN: 17 088 714 309
PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617                      http://www.tomw.net.au/
Adjunct Senior Lecturer, ANU