Ten Chinese websites' alliance to fight piracy of Oly videos

BEIJING: The official Internet broadcast partner of the Olympics on Tuesday signed an anti-piracy agreement with nine other Chinese websites to adopt proper technologies for preventing illegal links and decided not to provide videos of the games in their search engines.

Ten Chinese websites including leading portals, Sina, Sohu and NetEase joined hands with www.cctv.com and agreed to jointly set up a round-the-clock monitor over the Internet and open hotlines to receive tips as well as publicise a daily list of online pirates, the state media reported.

Under the agreement, the partner websites decided to adopt proper technologies to prevent illegal links and not provide Olympic videos in their search engines, official Xinhua news agency said.

The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) has ordered all websites to respect the broadcast rights of www.cctv.com, which was granted the exclusive rights to conduct live streaming of the Olympics in the Chinese mainland and Macao over Internet and mobile phones.

Stephane Kanah, International Olympic Committee Internet Project Manager, said in May that all the authorized broadcasters had an obligation to oppose piracy and protect the interests of other broadcasters.

Last week, a video clip aired by South Koreas SBS TV displaying fragments of the rehearsal for the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony had circulated on the Internet.