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A Replacement Term for 'Intellectual Property'?

Posted by Cliff on from the do-not-underestimate-the-power-of-language dept.

femto asks: "Every time I read the words 'intellectual property', I get peeved off. It is an oxymoron. A term loaded with invalid assumptions. To even use such words is an admission that intellect can be owned and controlled like a car, clothing or other thing made of atoms. Can anyone propose a replacement for the words 'Intellectual Property'? Something that implies intellect cannot be owned. Something that implies [what Jefferson once said]: 'He who lites his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me.' Once we have this term, we need to get it accepted. Use it in publications. Cite these publications to get it in dictionaries. Get the term into everyday conversation and writing. So far, the best I have come up with is 'Intellectual Controls'. Can Slashdot come up with something better?"

5 of 177 comments (clear)

  1. At SCO we prefer to call it.. by ChrisSontagsAnus · · Score: 5, Funny

    Ours.

  2. Hmmm - how about the truth? by mr_tenor · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I assume you've seen
    http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/words-to-avoid .html

    Personally, I find it easiest to call a spade a spade - if you're talking about patents, call them patents, copyrights copyrights etc. The default nature of information and ideas is free - look at the past 4000 years or so of science. The idea of saying "so and so is mine" or "only I'm allowed to do this" with respect to ideas is pretty new, to the best of my knowledge.

    1. Re:Hmmm - how about the truth? by Radical+Rad · · Score: 5, Interesting
      The default nature of information and ideas is free - look at the past 4000 years or so of science. The idea of saying "so and so is mine" or "only I'm allowed to do this" with respect to ideas is pretty new, to the best of my knowledge.

      If you look at History you will find many examples of information that was lost precisely because it was kept proprietary. That was the main purpose of the medieval guilds, as well as clerics and numerous secret societies. It is why secrets like how to make Damascus Steel were lost. It is a better argument for intellectual freedom to point out how the free flow of information has bettered our world, for example the Gutenberg Bible and medical knowledge, than to say, incorrectly, that it was always like that before and now we are being oppressed.

      Second, by what spade do you call the conglomeration of concepts known individually as copyright, patent, trademark, servicemark, and tradename? I think this was the original question.

  3. Re:Who Gives An Intellectual Property's Ass? by orangesquid · · Score: 5, Funny

    You could call it "wild sex"!

    "SCO sues IBM over wild sex"
    "IBM wild sex brings in millions in revenue"
    "Here, at CorporateAmerica, we value our wild sex.."
    "Wild sex is an important lubricant of the computer business world"
    "It is illegal to steal your employer's wild sex."
    "After a while, some wild sex falls into public hands"
    "Without wild sex, life as we know it could not exist."
    "Ask Slashdot: I don't like people using wild sex. Is there something better than wild sex?" the answer: No.

    --
    --TheOrangeSquid Is it any wonder things seem so awry? We swim in a sea of confusion and don't have to think to survive
  4. At SCO we prefer to call it "precious" by Gzip+Christ · · Score: 5, Funny
    "Precious, precious, precious!" Darl McBride cried. "My Precious! O my Precious!" And with that, even as his eyes were lifted up to gloat on his prize, he stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink, and then with a shriek he fell.

    Out of the depths came his last wail Precious, and he was gone.