Vice President Joe Biden has been one of the Obama's administration's point people on intellectual property. Biden attended an MPAA get-together in DC back in April 2009, where he told the assembled luminaries that they were going to love Obama's choice for the new "copyright czar" position (officially known as IPEC). That choice was later revealed as Victoria Espinel, who actually attracted positive commentary from groups on all sides of the IP issue.

This week, Biden was at it again, hosting a roundtable on enforcing copyright infringement cases. Who was invited? Top names from the government, including Attorney General Eric Holder, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Biden, and Espinel, along with the heads of NBC, Sony Pictures, Warner Music Group, and HarperCollins.

Oh, did I mention that the guest list also included the heads of the MPAA and RIAA, top execs from News Corp., Universal Music, Walt Disney, and Viacom?

Or that top Obama advisor and confidante Valeria Jarrett was in attendance? Or that the head of the FBI and Secret Service were there? Or that the event billed itself "the first of its kind, and will bring together all of the stakeholders to discuss ways to combat piracy in this rapidly changing technological age," but didn't manage to invite any public interest groups or academics?

The event was an open invitation for the Biggest of Big Content to bend the administration's ear about its parochial concerns. Such meetings aren't uncommon for elected officials—but they're less common when the events take place at such a high level and are billed as groundbreaking get-togethers in which "all stakeholders" are represented. As the comment about a "rapidly changing technological age" indicates, the Internet was a key topic of conversation, and groups like Public Knowledge weren't keen about giving content owners a venue for lobbying high-level officials on topics like three-strikes laws, ISP liability, and Internet filtering.

"We were extremely disappointed to learn of the White House meeting to be held later today on the issue of intellectual property and 'piracy," said PK's Gigi Sohn. "It is unclear why three cabinet officers, several subcabinet officers, the directors of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Secret Service are needed to tend to the worries of the big media companies, particularly the motion picture industry which is completing a year in which it will set box-office records.

"Although the meeting with Vice President Biden purports to bring together ‘all of the stakeholders to discuss ways to combat piracy in this rapidly changing technological age,’ some stakeholders are noticeably missing. Many representatives of media companies will be there. No consumer or public-interest groups, technology companies, technology associations or Internet Service Providers are on the guest list. No one who questions the need for Draconian governmental policies on behalf of the privileged special interest group for whom this meeting is being held is on the guest list."

Will Biden's roundtables continue, and with a bigger guest list? Stay tuned.

Update: The RIAA enjoyed the meeting. CEO Mitch Bainwol praised "this unprecedented gathering of senior officials" and called it "a further reflection of this Administration's recognition of the importance of copyright protections to generating and preserving American jobs."