流媒体与奥运会
值得怀疑的是，皮埃尔·德·顾拜旦男爵——创始人, in 1894, 在现代奥运会中，从来没有人把奥运会称为“内容”.“但这正是他们现在的样子. 因为这些内容现在在公开市场上价值数十亿美元, 2000年悉尼奥运会将不会有现场直播.
今天, the Olympics and its five-ring logo are among the world's most recognized and fiercely protected brands, 生成2美元.60亿美元获得悉尼奥运会的营销权. 其中一半以上是1美元.330亿美元的收入来自世界各地的电视转播权许可. 例如，美国全国广播公司(NBC)斥资7.05亿美元收购了美国广播公司.S. 单是悉尼奥运会的电视转播权，还有3美元.550亿美元用于购买2008年冬奥会和夏季奥运会的转播权.
Live streaming of the Olympics has been banned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) because it threatens to diminish the value of those rights. 对于那些认为奥运会属于全世界体育迷的人来说, 这似乎是愚蠢的商业主义的胜利. 但是理查德·庞德, 国际奥委会副主席, 响应, “把赞助和商业主义从今天的(奥运会)中剔除，剩下的是什么? 一种大型的、精密的、微调的发动机在没有燃料的情况下发展了100年."
包括加拿大在内的许多国家的广播机构将对奥运会进行现场直播. 比赛的结果——分数, 赢家和输家, 世界纪录被打破的消息将立即在世界各地的数千个网站上公布. But television viewers in the United States - with the exception of those near the Canadian border or with large satellite dishes - will be unable to watch video playback of the events until many hours after the drama is over. (有些人质疑延迟播放长达24小时的决定, NBC的广告收入将超过9亿美元.)但即使NBC, 一时的慷慨, 决定向美国观众提供直播, 国际奥委会不会允许的.
在讨论流媒体和奥运会时, 值得注意的是，尽管互联网和奥运会都是全球现象, 国际奥委会按国家出售转播权. 国际奥委会, 知道鲍勃·科斯塔斯不会出现在法国或德国的电视屏幕上, 能够以3.5亿美元的价格出售欧洲(EBU)转播权. 但是，尽管NBC的电视信号可能不会侵占欧洲的广播空间, Web users in London - or Sao Paulo or Tokyo - could choose to watch any live streaming offered by NBC in lieu of their local broadcasts. 观众减少意味着广告费降低，而广告费降低又意味着国际奥委会的版权费减少.
Axient为流媒体视频提供高“辛烷值”解决方案
nbc奥运会面临的主要挑战.NBC和Quokka的合资企业.体育——是为了提供高质量, on-demand video streaming without violating the IOC's stipulation that it not be accessible outside of the United States. Axient通信, 一个总部设在凤凰城的基于设施的内容分发网络, offered its Octane solution as a way to deliver streaming broadband video while bypassing the public Internet.
汤姆纽厄尔, NBC/Quokka Ventures的总经理, 笔记, "The first criteria in selecting Axient and their Octane product was the ability to meet the IOC's concerns about maintaining the integrity of the video within the United States. We had an additional concern that a lot of video that is streamed today is of poor quality… Axient offered to us the ability to stream full-screen video and a full frame rate.“通过选择Axient来提供内容, NBC/Quokka放弃了更多的窄带观众，以换取高质量, 宽带音频和视频流在200k, 500k, 和700k比特率.
Axient hopes its high-profile debut at the 2000 Olympics will demonstrate its ability to control access to its broadband network. 艾伦·卡普兰, Axient业务发展高级副总裁, 解释了, “我们的宽带接入提供商向我们提供了他们所有住宅用户的地址, and they've agreed to not pass content to the business user… By defining it as residential and business, 我们真正要说的是, 我们希望将内容提供给美国境内的用户.S.以及不会将内容转发到美国以外的最安全的用户群.S.住宅用户符合这一特征。." Users will have to contact their ISPs to find out whether or not they can be connected to the Axient network.
Axient并不是唯一一家为奥运会推出新的流媒体产品的公司. eSynch, 这是一家位于Tustin的媒体技术开发商, CA, created a prototype of its new ChoiceCaster media player interface specifically for the NBCOlympics.com网站. NBC选择使用ChoiceCaster而不是嵌入式播放器有几个原因. 马西莫Arrigoni, ChoiceCaster的产品经理, 解释了, “首先, 用户无法调整嵌入式播放器的大小, 即使它嵌入在一个弹出窗口中. The second reason is that they wanted to keep their brand visible at all times [and] we had the ability to customize a skin for NBCOlympics.com. 第三, ChoiceCaster offers an ‘always-on-top' feature that enables users to watch a continuous video while browsing the pages in the background. 这是嵌入式播放器无法提供的，因为无论何时你离开页面, 你离开玩家本身."
因为ChoiceCaster实际上是一个增强的接口, 而不是真正的玩家, 它可以区分和流视频在任何三种主要格式. 用户永远不会知道，在ChoiceCaster的外壳下，Axient实际上是流媒体Quicktime. 阿里戈尼认为NBC选择同步还有另外一个原因. 他指出, "NBC probably liked the idea of working with a smaller company that was definitely going to dedicate resources to them. Esynch是一家上市公司, 但肯定比他们可能去的大公司要小."
"A rogue Web site in Uzbekistan could easily download live video from a satellite and stream it to the world."
While NBC and the other licensed broadcasters have agreed to restrict streaming to their own territories, 其他人可能不会这么谨慎. A rogue Web site in Uzbekistan could easily download live video from a satellite and stream it to the world. 同时, 参加奥运会的数千名球迷中，任何一位都可以用微型数码相机记录下整个过程, 在G4上编辑素材, 并在几小时内通过互联网播放最终产品. 但正如技术可以提供威胁现状的手段一样, 因此，它可能会提供应对这些威胁的工具.
巴黎Datops, 一个自我描述的“度量引擎”,和NetResults, a London-based firm that specializes in monitoring and policing copyright infringements on the Internet, 被国际奥委会雇来监视网络的, 除此之外, 违反奥运直播禁令. Datops已经确定了28个,000个网站包含“奥运内容”," 2,其中包括奥运内容和视频文件. NetResults employs a team of sports research analysts to evaluate the Datops database of potential violators, and determine what qualifies as actionable copyright infringements or violations of the streaming ban.
Datops和NetResults对网络盗版问题采取了不同的方法. 路易同性恋, Datops的创始人兼首席执行官, 建议, "There are thousands of new sites on the Internet every day… and people are making copies of audio and video files more and more often. 我认为控制版权规则的答案将是通过技术."
与此同时, NetResults在搜索流媒体盗版方面得到了官方广播公司的合作. 卡洛琳汤利。, NetResults的董事, 笔记, "The sites that might potentially be tempted to do this are already known to us and to the broadcast partners for the Olympics around the world. [Some among] the various parties have worked for a number of sports governing bodies [and] are familiar with the sports Internet sites that are out there."
未颁发媒体凭据的网站
讽刺的是，像CNNSI这样的大型体育门户网站.com, ESPN.或CBS体育频道.网站想要的是在奥运会期间保持低调. 但是这些网站, 尽管每天在网络上吸引了数百万用户, 不能在国际奥委会的雷达屏幕上留下一点痕迹. 今年，除了nbolympic，没有一个体育网站.com and not to mention any media Web site - was even issued media credentials to the Sydney Games, 流媒体视频的授权更少.
当nbc奥运会.我至少被邀请参加晚会了, 宽带流媒体将被限制为每天20分钟, 其中只有10个是比赛的镜头. 这是流媒体在2000年奥运会上地位低下的最后一个迹象, 甚至这10分钟也已经在前一天的NBC电视广播中播出了. 关于视频流媒体的前景，CBS Sportsline节目副总裁乔·费雷拉说.com观察到，“(考虑到)他们甚至没有给自己的合作伙伴nbolympic.在NBC播出之前，我们就知道我们没有机会了."
It may be that the IOC's fear of streaming media is helping to create the very situation it wants to avoid. 正如NetResults的汤利指出的那样, "在官方批准的情况下, 从而在互联网上提供高质量的图片, 那么盗版软件的市场就会枯竭... Because there is no official video on the Internet - at the request of the broadcasters - then obviously it's likely to encourage a number of pirates to actually think, “好吧, 这是一个市场.'"
因此，国际奥委会发现自己处于两难境地. If it continues the ban on streaming, it risks having to hold back a rising tide of Internet piracy. 如果它支持流媒体，电视转播费的流动可能会放缓到涓涓细流.
国际奥委会将于12月召开会议，讨论互联网和奥运会的未来
国际奥委会世界体育与新媒体大会, 将在洛桑举行, 今年12月的瑞士, will attempt to resolve this dilemma as it explores "the future of the relationship between the Internet and sport." Among the issues to be discussed will be "the ways in which live sports coverage can impact the evolution of the Internet as a medium," and "the convergence of television and new media and the resulting impact on traditional sports coverage, 现有电视转播权, 以及体育迷的体验."
例如，到2008年的电视转播权合同是否需要重新谈判? Will such long-term contracts - given the pace at which the technology of media delivery is changing - be advisable in the future? 即使这些问题在洛桑都没有得到解决, 至少战线会画得更清楚.
The interests of the entrenched television culture often do not coincide with those of the ascendant new media culture. The controversies now surrounding streaming media and the Olympic Games may presage the type of turbulence that could accompany the broader, 电视和互联网的融合. The outcome of the competition between the old and new media for access to the sports fans of the world is less predictable than many of the events in Sydney.
请继续关注. 与此同时, 如果你住在美国，你渴望今年奥运会的戏剧性, 从早到晚，你最好把眼睛和耳朵都遮起来.