Beijing 2008 officials said Monday that sports fans around the world have been swindled by an international Internet scam offering thousands of bogus tickets for the Beijing Games, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is shutting down the scam. But it’s too late for the victims to find replacement seats.
Friday the IOC and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) filed a lawsuit in a district court in California accusing at least six websites of selling illegitimate or non-existent tickets to the Games.
Families of Olympic athletes in Australia and New Zealand, and people in the United States, Japan, Norway, China and Britain were caught up in the sting.
A hotline has been established for Australian, where the New South Wales Government is spearheading efforts to establish the extent of the fraud, reports an Australian website. Those affected by the scam are asked to call a national hotline number.
Meanwhile the Games will be broadcast online to more than 70 territories using a dedicated YouTube channel, to help deter illegal viewing of the Games, reports the Guardian. Beijing 2008 organizers are launching Wednesday an online channel on YouTube providing a package of daily sports to 77 international territories, including India, the Republic of Korea and Iraq.
The coverage includes highlights, news and daily clips of competitions during the Games.
The YouTube Beijing Olympics channel is being made available in territories where digital video on demand rights have not been sold by the IOC or have been acquired on a non-exclusive basis.
