[Upd-discuss] Jewish Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame sued over trademark violation

[Richard Stallman]

    I think it's troubling to say that there is a right or wrong focus of 
    discussion.

What strange angst you feel ;-).

When the goal is to address a practical social issue, the right focus
is the focus that helps one see the issue clearly.  Other focuses that
distract attention away from the issue are wrong focuses.

      Who is to say that the common free speech concerns 
    that run through the different areas of law are less important than the 
    specific policy issues of each?

A general concern such as freedom of speech can apply (in different
ways) to each of these various laws, just as it applies to other laws
that are not labeled as "intellectual property".

But each of these laws raises its own issues, and the only way to deal
with them thoughtfully, the only way to decide how to apply our
various general concerns to each one, is to study it individually.

      It's good to be aware of the 
    consequences of our use of language, but some times flawed terms are all 
    we have to use.

Maybe sometimes, but not this time.  There are good alternatives to
the term "intellectual property".  Specifically, we have the terms
"copyright", "patent" and "trademark" that specifically identify the
three most commonly considered "intellectual property" laws, and are
just right for helping people consider each law individually.