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The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad or BOCOG will be allowing members of the press to have unlimited internet access during the Olympic games. This comes after much pressure from the International Olympics Committee (IOC) to lift the limitations this coming Olympics.

When the Press Center in the Olympic Village opened its doors last friday, journalists were appalled to discover that the internet has been censored despite assurances from the IOC and the Chinese government that during the games the internet would be uncensored.

As our previous coverage on this issue said, pages that discuss Tibetan succession, Taiwanese independence, the violent crackdown of the protests in Tiananmen Square and the sites of Amnesty International, Radio Free Asia and several Hong Kong newspapers known for their freewheeling political discourse, have been censored from the Press Center in the Olympic Village despite assurances from the Chinese government.

According to Reuters, "The International Olympic Committee and the Chinese organisers BOCOG have agreed to lift all Internet restrictions for the Beijing Games, IOC vice-president Gunilla Lindberg told Reuters on Friday.

'The issue has been solved,' Lindberg said. 'The IOC Coordination Commission and BOCOG met last night and agreed. Internet use will be just like in any Olympics.'"

However, this unlimited access to the internet will only be available to the members of the press. Visitors coming to watch the olympic games share teh same fate as the Chinese with censored internet.

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