News agency Reuters has reported that record numbers of consumers have been viewing footage of the Beijing Olympics on their PCs via Web TV.

It had been feared that the games would see high levels of video piracy, but these have been allayed with official clips, authorised by the IOC appearing across the internet.

With an abundance of free, legitimate video streaming coverage of the games available, Users have tapped into the free service in their millions. Even in countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan, where there is no official coverage of the games from state broadcasters, viewers can watch official clips of events on Youtube. A spokesperson for YouTube described the deal as "historic."

Here in Britain, the BBC's iPlayer service has seen record interest, with over 3 million page views at key events such as swimming.

Live video streaming specialists Streaming Tank have provided web TV solutions for a host of Major companies such as Stella Artois and Pizza Hut. In addition to this, they have provided live video streaming for major artists such The Who and Genesis.

Streaming Tank's James Wilkinson commented on the news by saying:

"It is no surprise that the live video streaming of the Olympics has proved to be so successful. Consumers are increasingly turning to Web TV as it continues to offer a flexible and accessible alternative to traditional TV viewing."