For the first time, it will be possible to watch specific events on demand as well as to watch many of the less popular sporting events like cycling and race walking, which in the past have received scant attention in mainstream television coverage of the games.

But there’s a catch.

To view the video, it will be necessary to download a Microsoft Web browser software component based on a new proprietary technology, Silverlight. The Silverlight technology will allow streaming of video and interactive applications like video games to both Macintosh and Windows PC users.

Microsoft executives say Silverlight will “light up the Web” with multimedia content.

But for many industry executives who compete with Microsoft, the world’s largest software company, the Silverlight strategy recalls a federal antitrust case in which Microsoft was found guilty of using its market muscle to stifle competition from the Web.

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