Good news on the Heineken front, if they had any sense at all, they'd be letting people know about it, I've avoided it for years because of the difference.

They did at the time mate, that is why you can only get the little barrel cans in the supermarkets and the price in the bars went up, it is now around 5%.

If it was anything like Sydney.

Things will be more expensive in London than they are already and then people will leave the inflated Olympic prices in place, making it more expensive than you're used to.

I knew there'd be a benefit for everyone somewhere.

Meanwhile, rlwho needs civil libertiesrl?

I'm just waiting for the bountiful benefits Seb and Tony promised would spread not just through London but the entire nation.

Got an Olympic pencil so far.

So this is it then. We've found a way to moan about the Olympics. "It will cost 10 times as much as planned", "It'll all be a building site cos we're crap at everything in this country" balh, blah, blah. It hasn't and it isn't. But we're British, there's nothing we can't f*****g complain about.

I'm looking forward to it, I think it's a fantastic event and I still think it's about human beings, just for a small moment, getting on and enjoying each others company and having a great time. All of the people competing (wether on big money or not, Olympics or Para Olymics) have dedicated their lives to achieving something in ways most of us could never do and I applaud that.

I don't care about the advertising.

My son got to hold the Olympic torch, that'll do me.

Last time I checked you didn't have the liberty of infringing a trademark.

Sadly they way trademark protection works is you have to chase anyone infringing, if you don't you stand to lose any protection you have, that means chasing the small business as well as the big counterfeiting operations.

It's hardly just about protecting trademarks from infringement, is it?

These laws will allow entirely different names, logos, brands, adverts etc to be removed.

And given the way in which anti-terrorism laws have been used in recent years, how much faith do you really have that such laws would not be used to stop anti-Games sentiments? After all, one Twitter account has already been removed because of objections from Logoc.

We already have the total stupidity of such things as roadsigns near Coventry City's ground having to be changed so that they don't read 'Ricoh Stadium' because – oh my god, what damage that would do to other corporate bodies, while people are bustling around putting tape over brand names on hand driers in public toilets and elsewhere.

We have (or will have) anti-aircraft guns stationed on the top of people's homes.

We have people being told they can't open their workplaces because it would represent "unnecessary traffic", on roads where entire lanes have been designated as for use by VIPs only, with ordinary people told that they can't use certain road crossings either.

It's pathetic.

The article you linked to dealt with trademark infringement and protecting those who have paid a small fortune to sponsor the event from having their efforts hijacked by those who have contributed zip.

Many of the powers set out in the bill are powers that various authorities have in other aspects of counterfeiting, the bill just allows then to act quicker.

The other lunacy is just that lunacy. Mind we still don't know how they are preventing people opening their workshops, there is nothing in the bill that gives anyone any powers to do that.

I admire the dedication of the likes of Jessica Ennis, Tom Daley etc, but have no interest whatsoever when it comes to overpaid tennis and football players turning up at the games and declaring themselves 'Olympians'. Athletes, amateur boxers etc dedicate themselves for these events as a prime event in their lives while tennis and football have it way down the list of priorities.

The olympic ideal is long dead, even the torch bearers are flogging off the torches.

As soon as the torchbearers were charged for their torches, that argument was dead in the water

Never said I objected, just a point to emphasise the Olympic ideal is dead and buried.

You're right. The businessman who has been told he can't have his business called the 'Olympic Cafe' is bang out of order. How dare a small business want to benefit from the Games?



Was that the one about only allowing amateurs to compete, so the hoi polloi could be kept out?

Including by advertising completely different products.

Heaven forfend – we couldn't upset Coke or McingcrappyDonalds, could we? What an irony that, on the one hand, we've apparently got a rising obesity problem – and on the other, we let these health food producers buy out the Games? Great for 'the legacy'.

rlWe can't have small businesses enjoying even a hint of a benefit, can we?rl