The "Friends and Family" rates have been made available to the public through forums like Flyertalk by employees of the various hotel groups themselves...this is certainly the case with the ICHG and the Fairmont.
There are only a certain amount of rooms released at these discounted rates so not every room at the property is being sold off cheaply. It's a good way for the companies to fill up rooms that would otherwise be lying empty during the economic downturn.
The Carlson group are probably rubbing their hands with glee at the increase in bookings this promotion has brought on......won't surprise me if they turn a blind eye to it all.