[Upd-discuss] Did You Say "Intellectual Property"? It'saSeductive Mirage by Richard M. Stallman

[maitri venkat-ramani]

As Wiley says in today's comics page, "It's all about semantics.  You
call it a drinking problem.  I call it a reality exit strategy."

I agree with Stallman in that a way to take back the argument is to
change its one-sided terms.  The words that are used to posit an issue
offer a lot to or detract from that issue in terms of connotation.  I
would much rather call "it" what it is, a book, music, art, etc. rather
than "intellectual property" and discuss each on an individual basis.
For one, using the term "intellectual property" makes the property
value of the media more important than the media itself.

So, guess what.  Reclaim the argument.  Those who want to stop calling
it IP should do so and put forth future arguments on their own terms.
The others can continue to refer to it as IP if they wish, because
that's probably how they see the material.  Once that is done, we can
go back to fighting the growing legions of interests who want to keep
intellectual culture out of the hands of as many people as possible.

Maitri Venkat-Ramani


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