Comments on: want to link? send a letter to our internet department...

want to link? send a letter to our internet department...

reklaw — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 02:55:04 -0800

"For your protection and ours we have established a procedure for parties wishing to introduce a link to the ATHENS 2004 website on their site."

By: Pretty_Generic

Pretty_Generic — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 03:06:01 -0800

Ooh! Livin' dangerously! Athens 2004 Internet Department, if you can read this, fuck you and the pommel horse you rode in on.

By: Pretty_Generic

Pretty_Generic — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 03:28:11 -0800

Seems like Google have already been forced to "stand down". Before: After:

By: banished

banished — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 03:29:31 -0800

I like how at the top of their Internet Procedures page it says, "In the True Spirit of the Games." Fuck them indeed.

By: davebushe

davebushe — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 03:37:00 -0800

Just a little bit overboard there I think.

By: Pretty_Generic

Pretty_Generic — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 03:40:17 -0800

I disagree.

By: mmahaffie

mmahaffie — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 03:55:48 -0800

I can respect their wanting to have some control over links, but this goes a bit far. And, whatever happened to "please"?

By: Pretty_Generic

Pretty_Generic — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 03:58:40 -0800

Parties wishing to use a graphic element (banner) to link the ATHENS 2004 website can do so only by using the special ATHENS 2004 link buttons that are available Would someone care to make a new goatse.cx ring-based logo?

By: insomnia_lj

insomnia_lj — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 05:18:17 -0800

Shouldn't it be fuck you instead, or are there any particular advantages to fuck? I sent them a nasty email, too. terms@athens2004.gr

By: dayvin

dayvin — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 05:27:34 -0800

Jesus, you guys are slow on the uptake. Over at Monkeyfilter, we've got ourselves a regular Googlebashing going. Join in the fun: link to the crass spectacle

By: patgas

patgas — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 05:29:16 -0800

People have asked me if I'm following the Olympics, and I say, "no," but I have hard time explaining why. Regular office people don't take brand saturation and poor internet etiquette (among other things) personally, I guess.

By: bashos_frog

bashos_frog — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 05:29:21 -0800

Are people still trying to pull this crap. It's 2004 - get a fucking clue. Spirit of the games? Fuck that. How about the spirit of the web?

By: soundofsuburbia

soundofsuburbia — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 06:14:18 -0800

[This is bad]

By: Outlawyr

Outlawyr — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 06:19:28 -0800

Have any of you guys ever seen the Naked Olympics? When will they start a Fucking Olympics

By: rushmc

rushmc — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 06:35:59 -0800

I can respect their wanting to have some control over links :::shakes his head sadly:::

By: DrJohnEvans

DrJohnEvans — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 06:44:40 -0800

Don't miss the best ATHENS 2004 link ever. Good ol' SportsFilter.

By: quonsar

quonsar — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 06:49:14 -0800

I can respect their wanting to have some control over links *jaw drops*

By: languagehat

languagehat — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 06:56:52 -0800

I just want to say that it was worth the entire sordid history of the modern Olympics just to be able to see the picture DrJohnEvans linked to (originally posted by chicobangs).

By: FormlessOne

FormlessOne — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 07:07:12 -0800

Talk about wanting it all. They've made the Olympics even more of a crass commercial event, placed onerous requirements on spectators who paid to see the event, made it nearly impossible to view it online in United States (thanks, NBC! I don't want "highlights" - how about a video feed similar to what the BBC's pushing? I'd even pay to not watch the same friggin' ads over and over again!), and now I have to go hat in hand to them and ask permission to link to their site? I agree wholeheartedly - fuck them.

By: Outlawyr

Outlawyr — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 07:16:23 -0800

I think what FormlessOne meant was fuck them

By: FormlessOne

FormlessOne — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 07:21:36 -0800

Absolutely right, Outlawyr, and thanks. :)

By: mmahaffie

mmahaffie — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 07:42:43 -0800

OK, OK. I guess I should never post before the coffee kicks in in the morning. I would like to officially retract "control" from my previous post and substitute "influence." Pray forgive me, gentle readers. What I meant (but failed to communicate) was that the Athens 2004 folks could have achieved better results, and avoided karmic suicide, with a page kindly providing suggested graphic links that those who want to link to their site might use if they want. I stand by my support for "please", however.

By: saintsguy

saintsguy — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 08:10:45 -0800

Does anyone know if draconian Ts and Cs like this are actually binding whatsoever? Has this sort of thing ever been tested?

By: chicobangs

chicobangs — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 08:16:43 -0800

Wow. I had no idea that pic was so, uh, appropriate. It's disturbing how stupid and myopic certain uninformed jackasses can be with little more than an egregious lack of effort in looking past the gaping hole that is their own asses.

By: Pretty_Generic

Pretty_Generic — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 08:21:42 -0800

saintsguy: any judge who knows the first thing about how the world works would throw it out of court. So, yes, it's probably enforceable. *_*

By: planetkyoto

planetkyoto — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 08:23:48 -0800

The font is Lucida Grande. Have fun.

By: chicobangs

chicobangs — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 08:37:43 -0800

Do you think they have a clue yet? More links to the official site, not less, and many of them unseemly or downright out of line. My guess is that the wonk who wrote the language in the first place won't even notice all this linkydink bullshit. Obviously, it's not someone who knows how public websites really work. (If they have qualifications, they clearly haven't learned shit from them.) The actual webmaster (whoever he, she, they or it may be) might be having, at most, a good laugh seeing all the links from all the referrers (Mefi, Spofi and Mofi aren't the only ones having a laugh about this), but this isn't doing anything to their clickthroughs or viewing numbers in any meaningful way, I'd bet. It's a victimless crime we're committing here. Wuhoo!

By: sonofsamiam

sonofsamiam — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 09:06:05 -0800

Like punching someone in the dark!

By: mkultra

mkultra — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 09:18:19 -0800

1996 called and they want their link policy back, fuckers.

By: etoile

etoile — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 10:10:24 -0800

Ah yes, this reminds me of the Don't Link to Us goodness. I had a former employer of mine issue a cease-and-desist note (via FedEx) when I linked to their website (without commentary) back in 1999. I ignored it, and they didn't do anything about it. I suspect the same thing would happen in this situation. Incidentally, if we are only to use the graphics they provide, why don't they include one in the popular size of 88x31?

By: loquacious

loquacious — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 13:34:45 -0800

"Environment. The environment at the centre of the Games. As a theatre for competitions, but also as an element to be defended and valorised. Transforming environmental challenges into new opportunities: this is the future we want to see for sport. Communicating the environment means setting an example for those who come after us." *scratches head, drinks more coffee* Woah, there's this linky at the bottom that's not in lockstep. CALL THE IOC! BOMB TORINO! Damn sneaky Italians, always stealing my Arctic candy. Damnable badger pothering nippleshitters. Slagmo wee-tod archaic kakapo-stuffing cockchafers. Crass spectacle, indeed.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 16:07:04 -0800

There's an Olympics this year? Cool. How much longer need I remain completely disinterested in order to claim that I've entirely missed it?

By: soulhuntre

soulhuntre — Thu, 19 Aug 2004 04:38:54 -0800

"How much longer need I remain completely disinterested in order to claim that I've entirely missed it?" Skip that - to get your real creds for this sort of thing you need to go right to proudly claiming you only have a television to watch PBS and John Kerry rallies but never turn it on otherwise.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Thu, 19 Aug 2004 18:53:13 -0800

I'm in Canada and don't have cable, so both PBS and Kerry's rally weren't available to me through no special effort on my part.

By: Otis

Otis — Fri, 20 Aug 2004 05:52:13 -0800

On a slightly related note: Olympic athletes largely barred from posting online diaries.

By: tracicle

tracicle — Thu, 26 Aug 2004 13:23:32 -0800

You guys have probably heard there's a Guardian article about this thread.

By: thomcatspike

thomcatspike — Thu, 26 Aug 2004 13:45:18 -0800

To protect lucrative broadcast contracts, athletes and other participants are also prohibited from posting any video, audio or still photos they take themselves, even after the games, unless they get permission ahead of time. (Photos taken by accredited journalists are allowed on the personal sites.) ?!? this seems backwards. On your personal site - not the photos you take, only ours will do... I could see them not wanting their photos posted since some sites make $profit.