August 23, 2008
Dalai Lama muso didn't mean to hit iTunes
The man behind the controversial pro-Dalai Lama music download which is being linked to the apparent blocking of Apple's online iTunes Store in China says it was never his intention to provoke such a response. The Sydney Morning Herald reports.
"The album, Songs for Tibet, was offered as a free download to athletes attending the Olympic Games. They were encouraged to listen to the songs on their iPods whilst in Beijing as a act of solidarity with Tibetan people and the non-violent philosophies of their exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
Up to 40 athletes are thought to have taken up the offer and Mike Wohl , the executive director of The Art of Peace Foundation which produced the album, says that it is understood that some of the downloads were made while the athletes were in Beijing.
But he insisted that the campaign to recruit Olympians was not intended to make a big political statement. "We were trying to do the subtlest of subtle things," he said in a telephone interview. "I didn't want to get anyone in trouble."
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