And the award for greatest
firewall goes to...

International Olympic Committee (IOC) officials have backpedaled on their promise to provide unrestricted internet access for the 21,500 media planning to cover the Summer Games in Beijing, reports the Globe and Mail.

"Sensitive" websites that are not considered Games-related will be blocked, said IOC press chief Kevan Gosper, expressing regret that this was not made clearer to the international media.

For example, websites relating to banned spiritual group Falun Gong and the Amnesty International website, which criticizes the Chinese for their failure to honor Olympic human rights pledges, are currently inaccessible from the main press center.

Freedom of the media and transparency are vital to the Olympic Charter, said John Coates, president of the Australian Olympic Committee, expressed disappointment at the news of censorship.

The BOCOG insists it will provide "sufficient, convenient internet access" for foreign journalists to do their job, having loosened controls on foreign journalists in 2007 and allowing them to report on the May 12 Sichuan earthquake. Foreign media in China continue to complain of harassment by officials, however.

The earthquake and the Olympic Games press coverage were an "important test" of media operation system reforms and may contribute to a more open and transparent media system after the Games, said Liu Binjie, the head of China's Ministry of Press and Publications.

New media regulations are being drawn to replace those issued for the Olympics, which will expire in October, he added.

In April, the English-language version of Wikipedia was availed to Beijing and Shanghai-based readers. Some thought the move was a response to pressure from the IOC, which told China that journalists covering the Olympic Games must have internet access.