The European Commission is threatening legal action against Australia at the World Trade Organization over restricted access to foreign television for news from the Olympic Games in Sydney.
NBC is the only foreign company to have won access to the Olympic Park in Sydney, having paid $705 million. Everyone else will have to take part in a daily lottery for eight access tickets. European trade commissioner Pascal Lamy has written a letter of complaint to the Australian government. The EC maintains that under the terms of the WTO’s General Agreement on Trade and Services (GATS), Australia must open up its news agency market to foreign companies.