A gagging order preventing businesses, which helped build London's Olympics venues from promoting their involvement in the 2012 Games, "has been lifted after the government paid the British Olympic Association" £2M ($3.2M), according to Robert Booth of the London GUARDIAN. The BOA estimates that thousands of companies, which had been frustrated by bans on associating their names with the summer Games, "will now benefit from the 'stardust' of an event rated one of the most successful in Olympics history." The decision "followed a campaign by companies involved in the Games for the right to include details of their involvement in marketing materials." Companies, which had not paid the IOC or LOCOG to sponsor the Games, "were prevented by law from using their involvement in marketing materials." Brendon Cross, managing director of STL Communications, which provided phones for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies said, "It has been incredibly frustrating not to be able to talk about this. There is still scope for us to take advantage. At long last good sense has prevailed." Asked why it did not provide the marketing rights for free, a BOA spokesperson said: "These rights have a value, and it is through the sale of Olympic marketing rights that we create revenues so we can provide high-performance support to our athletes during the Olympic Games" (GUARDIAN, 1/27).
