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Copyright Expert Uninvited From Canada Policy Forum
earthforce_1 writes "The vested interests of restrictive copyright are stacking the deck in Canada. The Public Policy Forum Symposium on intellectual property reform has bowed to pressure from certain interests and dis-invited noted copyright scholar Howard Knopf. The forum's stated mandate is '...to strive for excellence in government — to serve as a neutral, independent forum for open dialogue on public policy, and to encourage reform in public sector management.' For some reason, the US Ambassador to Canada and the former head of the Canadian Motion Picture Industry Association have been invited — apparently they are perceived to have a more neutral view of what Canadian copyright laws should be? More information at Howard Knopf's blog."
The guest list for that symposium looks to be weighted towards people who would NOT agree with the RIAA's stance. The guy in the first article linked is clearly pro-reform and he is going to be there. If you follow the links you will see that there are speakers from companies that have been sued by copyright holders in the past like Google.
If this guy was uninvited based on his views I would suspect its because the other side wanted more balance, not because they wanted the deck stacked. If balance is the goal here then it would seem fair to exclude him (although a bit rude I suspect) since his side appears to already be very well represented.
It isnt like the non-RIAA view isnt being heard here as the summary would suggest.