I know I am just picking nits, here, but this is what I feel.
On Saturday 06 July 2002 13:16, Derek Neighbors wrote:
> Please dont call copyright law, "intellectual property" it is misleading
> and in accurate.
"Intellectual property" is entirely accurate, and I will continue to use it.
Ideas are not property, and I am not arguing that point. However, when the
author of an idea utilizes the law in such a way that it limits the rights of
the idea to those of property, then I feel that the term is appropriate.
> Piracy is a gross term for "unauthorized copying". Pirates were brutal
> murderers, rapists and pillagers and I doubt you intend to mean "sharing
> with your neighbor without authorization" is on par with such criminal
> activity enjoyed by pirates. ;)
I am of mixed feelings about this one. On the one hand, the term "piracy" has
been used to describe the unauthorized use of an idea for centuries. On the
other hand, it has the secondary meaning that you describe.
Since it is all just propaganda, however, I prefer to use the term that
furthers my cause. Namely, I use the term copyright infringement, which
tends to be a neutral term.
I would also add another term to the list that has been growing in popularity:
copy protection. I tend to associate the term with protecting my right to
copy rather than its true meaning (a mechanism which protects the author's
rights concerning the copy). In fact, many people interpret the term this
way. The end result is that people tend to accept copy protection without
thinking about the true meaning. How many people would buy that new CD with
brand new "copy prevention" technology? :-)
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