Despite a promise that the Great Firewall of China would come down for the duration of the Olympics, it appears that the glorious People's Republic of China will not allow journalists free access to the Web.

Sites linked to the banned Falungong spiritual movement and other unspecified ones will remain blocked for the thousands of foreign reporters covering the Games, organizing committee spokesman Sun Weide told AFP.

Quite why a journalist would want to see a site about Falungong while covering track events is probably not the point, and China has said it will provide sufficient access to the Internet for reporters.

The head of the International Olympic Committee's press commission, Kevan Gosper, told AFP that he would have a word with the Chinese. Sufficient access falls short of the complete Internet freedoms for foreign reporters that China's Communist authorities had promised.

IOC President, Jacques Rogge, has also promised to have some  "very serious discussions with the Chinese authorities" about the issue.