And The Gold Medal For Stupidity Goes To...

from the greedathlon dept

Fri, Apr 27th 2007 6:38am — Carlo Longino

We've discussed before the asinine level of special protection Olympic organizers regularly demand for their trademarks and even plenty of common words, as well as event sponsors. However, organizers of the 2012 summer games in London have set the bar for stupidity even higher by apparently decreeing that it will only use security technology provided by paid sponsors. Even with the ridiculously high level of concern over security at these events, organizers won't choose the best solutions, just those provided by companies that have paid to sponsor the games. This means that, apparently, matters of identity management and authentication will be left up to Visa. Yes, that's the Visa that's a credit-card company for which data leaks, identity protection and authentication are in no way a problem. While we're handing out medals for stupidity, let's go ahead and give the silver to the site on which the original article appears for its annoying registration scheme. Visit the page once, and everything's cool. Visit it again, and you get hit with a demand to register, which seems like a really, really great way to encourage new visitors to the site to read more keep coming back.

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22 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 27 Apr 2007 @ 6:54am

hrmm...
they must have changed something..

Visit the page once, and everything's cool. Visit it again, and you get hit with a demand to register, which seems like a really, really great way to encourage new visitors to the site to read more keep coming back.

Its not doing that now. Unless you were referring to a different site than the one you linked to.
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- MadJo (profile), 27 Apr 2007 @ 7:03am
  
  Re: hrmm...
  indeed, can't find that behaviour also... I guess they feared the wrath of Techdirt ;)
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The Invisible Man, 27 Apr 2007 @ 7:31am

There appears to be some kind of time limit, click a few links and all is well but at some point it does demand you register.

Still, it's a good site so I did, didn't cost anything and I used a disposable Gmail account so no problem with privacy.
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Sanguine Dream, 27 Apr 2007 @ 7:49am

More of a reason...
to not watch the Olympics. It's not like the cost to put on the events are going up. This is all about someone trying to figure out how to sqeeze more money out of it. The Olympics used to be about competition between athletes (and metaphorically between nations). Now its just corporations trying to make money.
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Pedro villalobos, 27 Apr 2007 @ 7:51am

Damn
we all know that visa isn't the best solution for security issues, so WHY are thay trying to do this stupid think? It can't be just about the money...
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- Anonymous Coward, 27 Apr 2007 @ 8:29am
  
  Re: Damn
  Oh yes it is about the money. Visa is a sponsor (probably the largest sponsor among companies in their same business) of the Olympics so that's how they were chosen.
  
  Kinda like if Nike is the biggest shoe sponsor then you will see more Nike ads than Adidas, Rebbok and other shoe brands.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 27 Apr 2007 @ 8:38am
    
    Re: Re: Damn
    well...
    
    I think a better analogy would be if they banned employees from wearing reeboks because reebok didnt sponsor the event.
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James, 27 Apr 2007 @ 7:55am

I'm not shocked.
I gave up on the Olympics when they admitted ball room dancing as a sport.
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- Enrico Suarve, 27 Apr 2007 @ 10:14am
  
  Re: I'm not shocked.
  Ballroom Dancing is a SPORT?!!
  
  I missed that - I vote tiddlywinks for 2012
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  - Casper, 27 Apr 2007 @ 11:09am
    
    Re: Re: I'm not shocked.
    Yeah, people seem to think anything remotely athletic is a sport. I lump those kinds of activities in with cheer leading, curling, and bi/triathlons. They may require physical performance and athletes partake in them, but they are not a sport. I think that's why they call it the "Olympic Games" and not the "Olympic Sports".
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    - Celes, 28 Apr 2007 @ 10:50am
      
      Re: Re: Re: I'm not shocked.
      I agree. But I don't think it'll change, not in an age when ESPN airs spelling bees and poker tournaments...
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      - karry, 1 Dec 2008 @ 4:45am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: I'm not shocked.
        if you disable cookies for any site that asks for a registration after you view a few pages it usually stops you from getting asked to register and lets you browse the site because it tricks the site into cheap battery thinking you are visiting it for the first time every time because there's no cookie.
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- Old Guy, 27 Apr 2007 @ 10:43am
  
  Re: I'm not shocked.
  Absolutely agree. The Olympics has become like NCAA Football with it's zillion's of oh so meaningless bowl games. And TV coverage is horrid...unless of course you like waking up 2:45 am to watch Botswana play Outer Mongolia in Air Hockey.
  
  GO X-Games, at least they have remained interesting.
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Apr 2007 @ 8:02am

Y'know, last thursday, Blackwall tunnel in London (a major way to get past the Thames) was shut down for about 40 minutes, causing a 5-mile tailback, just because an old guy's motorbike broke down inside it. That was it.

Unless some seriously huge changes are made within the next 5 years, London is going to be the world's largest gridlock when the Olympics come here.
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Jacob Buck, 27 Apr 2007 @ 8:04am

if you disable cookies for any site that asks for a registration after you view a few pages it usually stops you from getting asked to register and lets you browse the site because it tricks the site into thinking you are visiting it for the first time every time because there's no cookie.
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gdwntx, 27 Apr 2007 @ 8:24am

Yawwwwwnnnnnnn
No comment just sleepy
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TripHammer, 27 Apr 2007 @ 8:51am

$$$$$$$$$$$
I gave up when the answer to the Russian 'career amatuer' athlete was Dream Teams and allowing pro athletes into the games.

Will the Olympics be enough of an enticement to get a/some high-end security enterprise to pony up to provide the service?
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Apr 2007 @ 9:46am

Infringement
Careful, you used the word "silver" in a way that implied it was associated with "silver metal"; clearly you are infringing on the sacred trademarks of the Olympics...
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- The infamous Joe, 27 Apr 2007 @ 10:01am
  
  Re: Infringement
  Not to nitpick, but the reward for tested mettle is a medal made of metal. :)
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Shohat, 27 Apr 2007 @ 10:04am

The real...
The REAL Special Olympics.
By special people.
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Apr 2007 @ 11:20am

Not to mention that they use javascript for page formatting.

with NoScript and their site being denied, that stupid page looks wide as 3 monitors next to each other. You have to scroll WAAAAY to the right to see some text
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Chris, 27 Apr 2007 @ 11:55am

...
There's always www.bugmenot.com for the register & log in privacy issues.
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