OT: Unparalleled Access

[Meng Cheah]

http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/1631/125/

"CRIA's insistence on focusing on copyright as the source of its 
problems - along with its continual derision of Canadian policy and the 
motives of Canadians - is genuinely difficult to understand.  Even more 
difficult to understand, notwithstanding the well-documented 
<http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/1529/135/> fundraising issues, 
is why the government keeps granting it unparalleled access.
I've already reported 
<http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/1292/159/> about how CRIA was 
busy arranging an event for government officials within days of the 
election which led to a sponsored lobby session on March 2nd that 
included a government-funded lunch and a private meeting with Minister 
Oda.  Now new documents reveal that this was merely the tip of the 
iceberg.  Four weeks later (on April 1st), CRIA hosted a private lunch 
at the Juno Awards for Bev Oda featuring Henderson and the presidents of 
the major music labels followed by an artist roundtable.  Six weeks 
after that (on May 16th), Graham Henderson was granted another meeting 
with Bev Oda, this time to counter the news that the indie labels had 
left CRIA and that the CMCC had launched. 

This represents an incredible amount of access, particularly considering 
the unwillingness 
<http://www.thehilltimes.ca/html/index.php?display=story&full_path=/2006/december/4/duggan/&c=1> 
of the Minister or her staff to even meet with groups representing 
Canadian artists.  With literally monthly private meetings this spring 
between the Minister of Canadian Heritage and the President of the 
Canadian Recording Industry Association is it any wonder that Canadians 
are skeptical about whether their interests will be addressed in the 
next copyright bill?"
--
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