Internet users wishing to find information on the Athens 2004 Olympic Games are no longer able to access its official website after the government failed to renew the rights to the domain name.

A 29.30-euro fee required by site owners to renew domain name ownership rights every two years has not been paid for the athens2004.com or for the athens2004.gr site.

An attempt to access the official site for one of the most important events ever held in the country will bring up a page with links to the Beijing 2008 Games and the International Olympic Committee.

“At a time when Google is paying an enormous amount of money to hold onto every piece of information, we have allowed the content to be lost. This is a developed way to record history and it is a shame for it to be lost,” said the president of the Association of Hellenic Internet Users (EEXI), Nikos Vassilakos.

In contrast, Internet users can still find official information for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and on Australia in 11 different languages, including Greek.

“For the same reason, the site for the Greek presidency of the European Union has suffered the same fate,” added Vassilakos.

The eu2003.gr site, used by Greece while holding the European Union’s rotating presidency in the first half of 2003, is no longer operating.