2 ms·
Proponents of Free Software, on the whole, would caution against the term "intellectual property". Are you referring to: -copyright? -patents? -trademarks?
by craigsmansion 8y ago
Proponents of Free Software, on the whole, would caution against the term "intellectual property".
Are you referring to:
-copyright?
-patents?
-trademarks?
-something else?
Because, in general:
-copyright is obnoxious, but usable. The GPL depends on it.
-software patents are terrible, no excuses.
-trademarks are generally good and productive.
There is no one concept of "intellectual property," and most people using it are confused or being deceptive.
- belorn 8y agotrademarks are a very special form of intellectual property and the furthers away from property. In part it is just an extension of anti-fraud laws, where one company is forbidden to masquerade their product as if they were produced by someone else (usually by someone of high reputation). I think historically you could not even sell a trademark, which really put it far away from the concept of property.