Olympic Insurrection - Number 10 Joins The Insurrection

Number 10 Downing Street has joined the Olympics insurrection, and has knowingly breached the rules relating to the use and display of the Olympics rings.

Don't forget to visit www.olympicswarehouse.com

www.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Olympic Insurrection

I am amused and pleased to see that there is a public insurrection taking place against the Olympics; specifically against the restrictions being imposed, by those who are making money out of the games, on the use by others of the Olympic rings.

People are now openly defying the ban on using the rings; eg Old Holborn, Dave Letorey and Mayfair Kingsize have changed their Twitter avatars to the Olympic rings, technically making them criminals:

"I have changed my avatar. I am now a CRIMINAL"

Special mention to Tent101 who has changed avatar and come up with the excellent tag line #FuckTheOlympics

Don't forget to visit www.olympicswarehouse.com

www.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Red Neck Olympics Threatened

I am sorry to hear that the "Redneck Olympics" in Maine, which features event such as beer-swilling, pie eating and wife-carrying, has been threatened with legal action by the US Olympic Committee.

For why?

The US Olympic Committee believes that it owns the word "Olympics".

However, as Harold Brooks (the organiser of the Red Neck Olympics) quite rightly pointed out to Fox News:

"It’s a word that was used the ancient Greeks.

This is just a bunch of rich people looking out for other rich people.

It’s sickening that if you own a lot of money, you can own everything – even a word."

As noted many times before on this site, the Olympics (not the Red Neck one) are about money not sport.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

Don't forget to visit www.theolympicswarehouse.com

www.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Sonic The Hedgehog

I wonder if the creators of Sonic The Hedgehog realise that one of London's new Olympic mascots, the one carrying the knife (how symbolic of this country's youth!), bears more than a passing resemblence to Sonic?

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

Don't forget to visit www.theolympicswarehouse.comwww.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Golly!

The organisers of the London 2102 Olympics are reportedly taking action against Apollo Badge and Pin which are marketing "Olympic Gollies", these are lapel badges in the form of a "Golly" with an "Olympic" theme.

The London Olympics legal action would probably use copyright laws against the sale of the Gollies as unlicensed merchandise.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

Don't forget to visit www.theolympicswarehouse.com
www.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

The O Word

The organisers of the London Olympics have claimed another victim in their relentless campaign against people using the "O" word, unless they have paid for the privilege.

Students at the University of Brighton have been banned from using the word "Olympics" to promote an event because of copyright issues, and have been issued with a warning by the organisers of the London 2012 games.

The university's Chelsea School had planned to name a series of talks by sports personalities The Olympic Lecture Series.

Unfortunately for them and anyone else daring to use the "O" word, the terms "London 2012", "Olympics" and "2012" have been protected by government legislation passed in 2006 and designed to help the interests of major companies sponsoring the games.

Anyone breaching the ban faces a warning, and can be taken to court if they are found using it to make money.

What about media organisations that use these words?

Do they have to pay each time they use it?

The Olympics are not about sport, purely money!

It's The Money Stupid

Congratulations to British Airways for spending £40M, in order to secure the rights to use the much derided "Lisa Simpson Gives Head" London Olympics logo.



Money well spent!

Other organisations, which have tried to enter into the spirit of things, but have not paid the requisite fee, have had a few problems.

Dennis Spurr owns the high street butchers "The Fantastic Sausage Factory" in Weymouth where the Olympic sailing events will be held.

He put up a poster over his shop, showing the Olympic rings shaped as sausages below the word "fantastic".

Needless to say the "enforcers" of the London Olympics were not best pleased, as they had not received their pound of flesh. They rang Mr Spurr and ordered him to take it down.

He duly complied, as he didn't want to be sued by the heavies that run the London Games.

However, hats off to one enterprise that has stuck two fingers up at the moneymaking machine that is the Olympics.

"Bar 2012", a bar in Weymouth, registered its name two years before London won the bid; and the London Olympics organisers can't touch them for that.

Good for them!

As I have stated on previous occasions, the Olympics is not about sport; it's about money.

Personal Branding

My compliments to the parents in China who hold no fear of being prosecuted by the IOC for using their "Olympics" brand name. It seems that nearly 3,600 people in China are called Aoyun, which translates to "Olympics" in English.

In addition, 4,100 people have names that translate into Beijing Olympic Games.

It is likely, that as the date for the 2008 Beijing Games approaches, the number of people with Olympics based names will increase.

What will the IOC lawyers do, in response to such a blatant breach of their copyright rules?

Olympics Organisers Ban Olympics

In the farce that is the London Olympics 2012, one truth remains self evident; namely that the Olympics are not about sport, but about money.

Nothing demonstrates this point more clearly than the fuss that the London Olympics organisers have caused over a science fiction book by Robert Ronson.

Mr Ronson's crime?

The title he used for his book was "Olympic Mind Games".

The "good people" of the London Olympics decided that this could be viewed as a breach of copyright. In order to squeeze every last drop of money out of the games words such as "Olympics" and "2012" are copyrighted. Therefore, in theory, this site breaches also the copyright, as it liberally uses the word "Olympics".

The organising committee were so angst ridden about Mr Ronson's book, that they sent him an email asking that he desist from using the word "Olympic" and expressions such as "London 2012, or 2012 etc" in the title.

Seemingly the committee has the power to do so under statutes passed in 1995 and 2006. Nonetheless some common sense prevailed in the minds of the Olympic organisers as Ronson refused to kowtow, doubtless fearful of looking totally ridiculous, they have decided that it would be "disproportionate" to prosecute.

It is of course quite ridiculous to attempt to ban the use of words that are listed in dictionaries. Not that it stopped "Big Brother" from doing just that in Orwell's "1984".

Here is a list of banned words for you to savour:

-Olympics
-Olympic
-2012
-London 2012

Enjoy them whist you can, the thought police will be coming soon to stop you reading them; unless of course a nice fat fee has been paid first!

Child Labour

As the 2008 Beijing Olympics draws ever closer, the media scrutiny of the preparations for the games increases.

As such it should come as no surprise to see reports emerging of allegations about child labour being used to manufacture some Olympics merchandise.

Playfair 2008 allege that some Chinese factories are producing Olympic caps and hats by using child labour, paying half the minimum wage and forcing employees to work seven days a week.

The report by Playfair 2008 alleges that some are getting 12-year-olds to work 15-hour shifts in unsafe and unhealthy conditions.

The Brussels-based International Trade Union Confederation said that they want the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to add employment conditions to licensing contracts. Beijing Games licensing may generate $70M in revenue, according to the report.

Lee Cheuk Yan, general secretary of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions, said:

"The horrendous conditions faced by Chinese workers working on Olympic products puts the IOC and the Chinese government to shame."

The Lausanne, Switzerland-based Olympic committee said it doesn't manage production of Olympic-related products. Beijing 2008 organisers said they would investigate the factories.

Giselle Davies, IOC spokeswoman, said:

"The IOC is committed to being a socially responsible leader of the Olympic movement that takes care of the Olympic brand in the best way possible. It matters to us that sourcing is done ethically."

This somewhat laissez faire response is surprising.

The IOC would do to remember that whenever anyone allegedly infringes the copyright of the Olympic rings/logo or name, the IOC is very "quick off the blocks" to litigate. It will be interesting to see how speedy they are in this matter.