Easy solution

They should allocate tickets on a "least busy first served" basis, i.e. allow a two week online registration period, and give tickets to those who register in the "quietest" minutes (measured retrospectively).

This would likely flatten demand whilst preserving fairness.

John

Correction...

"Tickets sales for next year's Olympic Games in Beijing were suspended for a week on Tuesday after the ticketing system crashed under the weight of Chinese sport fans looking to snap up tickets for the eagerly-anticipated event."

Should read:

"Tickets sales for next year's Olympic Games in Beijing were suspended for a week on Tuesday after the ticketing system crashed under the weight of Chinese "sport fans" looking to snap up tickets for the eagerly-anticipated event and put them on eBay closer to the time."

Well actually (@Pete)

Its more likely the UK system will crash when, say, a whole hundred people ask for tickets. Not that I'm pessimistic...

Re: and in 4 years time ...

"... what's the betting we'll see this exact same story again, only with a different country in the frame?"

Doubt it.

Given the gummint's track record(sic) with IT projects in the past, multitudinous screwups will happen but it'll hardly be newsworthy (hopefully I'll have fled this godforsaken armpit of a country by then, so I won't really care much either ;-) )