Submitted via IRC for xhedit
The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) must spend a majority of the four-year break between Olympics thinking up new, spectacularly petty demands to make of everyone when the next event rolls around. It's always been overbearing and thuggish, but it seems determined to top itself with each new iteration of its sports-related boondoggle.
In the run-up to this year's particularly dystopian Olympic games, being hosted in a city without clean water or a clean police force, the USOC has already demanded:
- That a company take down Olympic-related social media posts pertaining to the Olympic athlete the company is sponsoring
- That no non-official commercial entities are allowed to use certain hashtags in tweets
- That no "non-media" companies are allowed to refer to the Olympic games, outcomes of events, or even share/repost content posted by official Olympic media accounts
It's these last two that are being challenged -- not by a megacorporation unable to buy its way into the USOC's good graces, but a Minnesota-located franchise of the Zerorez carpet cleaning business.
A small business in Minnesota is suing over the US Olympic Committee's ban on tweeting about the Olympic games. The Committee announced last month that non-sponsors are banned from even using hashtags like #Rio2016 or #TeamUSA. Zerorez, a carpet cleaning business in Minnesota, will file suit in U.S. District Court on Thursday.
So why is this seemingly random floor cleaning business in Minnesota the one suing? They simply want to root for the home team.
"They're very engaged with social media," Aaron Hall, CEO of the JUX Law firm, told me over the phone. "They felt concerned about being censored on social media, especially at a time when we're going through a time of pain and negativity."
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Sunday August 07 2016, @01:34PM
and the Euro soccer tournament, and the world soccer tournament, and the Tour de France, and the Paris Dakar, and all the rest of the ultra-commercial sporting events that plague the yearly calendar one after the other. If you like sports, fine. But for the rest of us who don't give a rat's ass, it's just about impossible to tune to a TV channel, go to a cafe or simply talk to anybody without being assaulted by sports talk.
If the world devoted the money, time and resources it dedicates to the sterile activity that is sport, it'd have solved its energy and climate problems already. Fuck sports - and more importantly, fuck the sports business.
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Sunday August 07 2016, @02:02PM
Yeah, it was the Olympics that made me switch from the Today show in the morning to GMA. Got tired of olympic crap and really, the morning shows are all about the same.
It was a once in a lifetime experience. Which means I'll never do it again.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 07 2016, @05:42PM
You do realize that many of the "segments" on those morning shows are just paid advertisements, right? I remember the day when a friend of mine bought two rounds of drinks because they got a guaranteed spot on a morning show. That meant enough people wrote in and liked it that his company a huge break in price and a set interval and other perks. IIRC, listen for the magic words, "brought to you by" in the intro. For example, "and now home improvement tips, brought to you by Steve of DIYwithSteve." Oh and most of those segments turn out to plug "great" products? Guess we now where Steve is getting the money from to pay for the time.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Sunday August 07 2016, @06:59PM
I literally don't know a single guy who watches morning tv. I thought they were all chick-shows.
(Not that I am allowed to touch the remote control at that time of day mind you).
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Sunday August 07 2016, @07:45PM
I can watch the first hour in about 30 minutes with my DVR. Only the first hour is worth watching.
Is there anyone naive enough to not think those "hottest trends for the $season" segments are anything but paid ads?
It was a once in a lifetime experience. Which means I'll never do it again.
(Score: 3, Touché) by Gravis on Sunday August 07 2016, @02:03PM
simple solution: don't watch TV, don't talk to people who watch TV and make fun of people who still watch TV.
that reminds me, you still watch TV? what do they keep it on 24/7 at the nursing home, grandpa? (＾▽＾)
(Score: 5, Insightful) by opinionated_science on Sunday August 07 2016, @02:03PM
careful...it's bread and circuses that stop them going after the 0.01%....
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Monday August 08 2016, @03:24PM
As someone who isn't part of the 0.01%, nor part of the Complaints Division of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation, why should I be concerned about whether a mob goes after them?
"Think of how stupid the average person is. Then realize half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
(Score: 2) by archfeld on Sunday August 07 2016, @07:12PM
While I realize a lot of people don't care about sports, and I freely acknowledge it is your right and privilege to complain about it and not watch. Don't you think that "... being assaulted by sports talk..." is a little over the top ? Next you will be battered by a brawny commercial ? Raped by a little Debbie ad ?
I was turned into a newt by the IOC, but I got better.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzYO0joolR0 [youtube.com]
For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
(Score: 2, Insightful) by ShadowSystems on Monday August 08 2016, @01:40AM
Enjoy a pint on me! I couldn't agree more!
I just got back from trying to enjoy a meal at a local sit down "family" restaurant & I nearly left in disgust. Between the tv's blaring sporting matches from seemingly every part of the world, the radio tuned to a local football game to do a live play-by-play, & everyone in earshot babbling about sports in one form or another, I could barely hear myself think much less the waiter trying to ask me what I wanted. I shouted back "a pair of noise canceling earplugs!" which made him smile in that "Damned SKIPPY!" kind of way that lets you know you've struck a nerve. This wasn't a "sports bar" or sports-themed establishment where sports are to be expected, this was a supposedly family-friendly, relaxed & quiet place to eat. Except that I couldn't hear anything EXCEPT the sports crap.
The comparitive silence of rush hour traffic beneath a freeway overpass was bliss. I could hear! I wasn't assaulted on every side by some numpty going on about how their team was doing. I could hear things like car backfiring, car alarms, drive-by shootings, & the screams of sirens above the hooting of traffic. Compared to inside the restaurant, it was a fekkin' LIBRARY outside.
I'm sick & fekkin' tired of sports. You can't turn on the tv nor radio without being bombarded by sports, you can't turn around without some sports-themed ad slapping you in the face, you can't talk to folks without them turning it to sports, & you can't even escape to the library without your eyes being bludgeoned by idiots wearing sports jersey's.
You want to talk about sports? Fine. You want to watch sports? Fine. You want to hear sports on the radio? Fine. But for the love of Cthulhu on a fekkin' pogo stick, *I* DO NOT. Please leave me & others whom don't give a fek about sports ALONE so that we might enjoy a bit of peace & quiet? Eat our meals in peace. Read a book in peace. Read a news site in peace. Do what we want to do that does NOT involve listening to folks blather on about bloody-fekkin'-sports!
GAH!
It's enough to make me want to carry a dead fish in a sack. Some twit starts yappin' about sports, whack 'em with the fish & scream SHUT UP!
I know it would get me in trouble, but DAYAM would it make me feel better.
I'll buy you a pint of your favorite & lift my tankard in toast. I'll bring the noise canceling earplugs if you bring the batteries.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 07 2016, @01:46PM
#Olympics #TeamUSA #Rio2016. Even this story probably violates their policy. And I thought the MPAA RIAA were the lowest scum sucking form of life. Maybe they were all in bed with each other. I stopped watching professional sports long ago because it turned into a money grubbing clusterfuck, and only watched the Olympics because it was an actual independent strive for excellence. Looks like it's now the same clusterfuck.
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Sunday August 07 2016, @04:33PM
Well, some think that just linking to web sites can be a crime. I don't know if the official site of the Olympics is https://www.olympic.org/ [olympic.org] or https://www.rio2016.com/ [rio2016.com] or something else.
What's with all this casual trampling upon our freedoms? Many freedoms are so ingrained that only fools would dare try to tell the public they shouldn't or don't have them, like that women can't have jobs, or that we can't criticize the President, Congress, and the entire government. Lese-majeste is dead and good riddance. But a whole bunch of other freedoms are under assault. Do we now have Lese-corporation? Why do corporations think they have the right to silence not just criticism but everything, why do they keep trying it? They really believe they lose money if someone else profits off something that so much as mentions their work. I'm thinking of an incident in which Ford tried to stop some calendar or club featuring the Ford Mustang. At the least, advertising restrictions have eased, before that advertisements were not allowed to name rivals.
Corporations should respect freedom of speech, but if they can't see that, if they're too unenlightened, uneducated, and plain barbaric to see it, they should at least fear the wrath of the people for expressing a desire to censor us. I'd like to see the Olympics savaged for this, make an example of them. How about throwing the individuals responsible for this official policy in jail for a few days?
(Score: 3, Informative) by frojack on Sunday August 07 2016, @07:06PM
Its not just the hashtags.
A few years ago the USOC went after a lot of western Washington businesses on the Olympic Peninsula [dvorak.org] about the word Olympic in their name. I believe the Washington Attorney General shut them up with a threat and pointed out an exemption in US law.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 1) by nethead on Monday August 08 2016, @02:47AM
You mean the Washington State AG that works in Olympia, WA?
How did my SN UID end up over 3 times my /. UID?
(Score: 2) by ilPapa on Sunday August 07 2016, @02:10PM
#Olympics #TeamUSA #Rio2016 Use Burma Shave
You are still welcome on my lawn.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Sunday August 07 2016, @02:22PM
Next Olympics, the rules are going to include:
(Score: 2) by wisnoskij on Sunday August 07 2016, @03:13PM
That no non-official commercial entities are allowed to use certain hashtags in tweets
Interesting, while I am not aware of that ever being tried in the West, it seems doable. Just take out a Trademark on the hashtag phrase, and you own it like any other phrase you invent and register.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 07 2016, @04:18PM
The purpose of the trademarks is to prevent confusion in the market. AFAIK, the restrictions don't apply to you if you're not in the same business as the trademark grant specifies. A computer repair shop can freely tag their posts with #CocaCola. Furthermore, trademarks don't apply to obvious or geographical terms. A fruit store can use (but can't trademark) the name "Apple", and Apple Inc. can't legally do anything to stop them.
However, the USOC does not only hold trademark on anything Olympics related; they managed to get a specific law passed that gives them much more control. Behold the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act [wikipedia.org]:
The Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act is a United States law (codified at 36 U.S.C. Sec. 220501 et seq. of the United States Code) that charters and grants monopoly status to the United States Olympic Committee, and specifies requirements for its member national governing bodies for individual sports.
Yes, a government-sponsored monopoly. Also, that monopoly does not apply only to sports - USOC is very trigger-happy and has sued restaurants, stores, newspapers...
In any case, while trademark law doesn't go that far, USOC is claiming that the above-mentioned law gives them legal right to do things like block any commercial entity not paying brib- I'm sorry, sponsoring the Olympics* from even mentioning the word "Olympics". The business that's suing them claims, among other things, that an interpretation that broad conflicts with the First Amendment.
I say that we should allow USOC and IOC to take sole ownership of those words and never mention any of them ever again.
---
* Sponsoring the Olympics, but not the athletes! Businesses that sponsor the athletes, allowing them to train, qualify for and go to the games, but not official Olympic Games sponsors, are also forbidden from congratulating their athletes [techdirt.com]. If they do, the athlete will be disqualified.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 07 2016, @11:47PM
Create DRM that uses the phrase as its decryption key.
(Score: 2) by jmorris on Sunday August 07 2016, @05:05PM
Thee and me have signed no agreements with the IOC. Mentioning a sports event isn't in any shape or form illegal or any sort of IP infringement. Copy/paste of a news account is different of course. The focus of anger should be on -twitter- if they are enforcing such obviously bogus rules on using a damned hashtag.
(Score: 2) by AnonymousCowardNoMore on Monday August 08 2016, @03:22PM
Mentioning a sports event isn't in any shape or form illegal or any sort of IP infringement.
...in a sane world. Meanwhile here in the asylum, the big sporting organisations have in fact intimidated governments into giving them special "IP" rights which do not apply to any other sector of society. They probably reason—correctly—that they can get anything by threatening to take the circuses out of "bread and circuses". Back when FIFA pitched their circus tent near here, they even organised a special trademark law protecting them from companies mentioning/depicting soccer/soccer balls/etc. and the year together without specifically mentioning the event.
(Score: 2) by Whoever on Sunday August 07 2016, @06:11PM
Uh, the USOC is wrong. Clearly, absolutely wrong.
The Olympics have special trademark status due to the Nairobi treaty [inta.org], but the protected trademarks don't include the above hashtags.
They also went after someone who wrote and published a guide to the Olympic peninsula in Washington state, despite the treaty specifically allowing anyone to use the word "Olympic" in this manner.
These guys are just assholes. No more, no less. They claim rights they simply don't have.
(Score: 1) by gmrath on Sunday August 07 2016, @07:39PM
That they may claim rights they "simply don't have," is no doubt true, but they DO have lots of money and lawyers and lobyists to make sure their worldview prevails, things the small fry don't have. Only large entities with resources could fight them to a possible successful conclusion - but most of those will remain silent on these issues hoping they will be able to get away with the same stuff, or are in cahoots with the USOC. And there it goes. . . Wonder how much of the USOC is government-funded?
(Score: 2) by Whoever on Sunday August 07 2016, @11:28PM
Exactly. They are giant assholes.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 07 2016, @08:11PM
"especially at a time when we're going through a time of pain and negativity."
What does this mean in the context of a carpet cleaning business? Deep stains?
(Score: 2) by Bogsnoticus on Monday August 08 2016, @06:55AM
It means a short in one of their carpet cleaning machines injured the operator, causing them to soil themselves and the clients carpet.
Genius by birth. Evil by choice.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 07 2016, @09:22PM
The Olympics are overrated anyway. They need to get over themselves.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Sunday August 07 2016, @09:54PM
Anyone talking about Zeus, Hera, Athena, et al are going to be referring to Olympians, and if they get into a detailed discussion of Greek religious practices they'll even talk about the Olympic Games. Therefore, all those Greek writers and modern scholars of that stuff are clearly in violation of the modern Olympic Games trademarks!
"Think of how stupid the average person is. Then realize half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
(Score: 2) by seeprime on Sunday August 07 2016, @11:31PM
Who do these assholes think they are? Anyone can communicate about anything as long as it's not about committing, or plotting to commit, a crime. Fuck the Olympic committee and anyone that thinks that they can stop humans from doing human things, even tweeting.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 07 2016, @11:49PM
They got special laws and treaties passed to make their rules laws. Well, you can interpret those laws to mean that they can make the rules or you can interpret those laws differently. This lawsuit should decide. So yes, the Olympic committee is 'above' standard copyright, trademark, and IP laws. Due to them, I ignore the olympics.