Thursday, June 21, 2012

And the little guy wins - maybe?

Published today:

Statement from USOC Chief Communications and Public Affairs Officer Patrick Sandusky:
“Thanks to all of you who have posted, tweeted, emailed and called regarding the letter sent to the organizers of the Ravelympics.
Like you, we are extremely passionate about what we do. And, as you may know, the United States Olympic Committee is a non-profit entity, and our Olympic team receives no government funding. We are totally dependent on our sponsors, who pay for the right to associate with the Olympic Movement, as well as our generous donors to bring Team USA to the Games.
The letter sent to the organizers of the Ravelympics was a standard-form cease and desist letter that explained why we need to protect our trademarks in legal terms. Rest assured, as an organization that has many passionate knitters, we never intended to make this a personal attack on the knitting community or to suggest that knitters are not supportive of Team USA.
We apologize for any insult and appreciate your support. We embrace hand-crafted American goods as we currently have the Annin Flagmakers of New Jersey stitching a custom-made American flag to accompany our team to the Olympic Games in London. To show our support of the Ravelry community, we would welcome any handmade items that you would like to create to travel with, and motivate, our team at the 2012 Games.”


So, I have great difficult believeing that a standard-form cease and desist letter includes a description of such activities as an afghan marathon as denigrating athletes.

Next, the irony of stating that such activities denigrate athletes, but "we would welcome any handmade items that you would like to create. . ."  And mentioning their flag which is in fact a fund raiser for the USOC; hardly the same as Ravelympics in which no money changes hands.

The good thing in all this is that Ravelers' voices were heard.

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