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Property is both tangible and intangible. Peititio principii. Many argue that even the phrase "intellectual property" is disingenuous; a term invented by the e
by jberryman 16y ago
Property is both tangible and intangible.
Peititio principii. Many argue that even the phrase "intellectual property" is disingenuous; a term invented by the entrenched stakeholders to gain support for the laws they would like passed by creating a false analogy between physical property and knowledge.
- travisp 16y agoWhile I'm not sure where the phrase itself came about, John Locke back in the 1600s endorsed copyright in "Liberty of the Press" as the "property" of the authors and proposed an amendment to British Parliament in 1695 to "secure the author's property in his copy, or his to whom he has transferred it." (See "Lockean Property Theory and Intellectual Property" in http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1457848 http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1457848) This implies that the idea of intangible property has existed since at least the 1600s and was supported by one of the most important property theorists of history. I don't think you can dismiss it so easily as a simple "false analogy" or that calling patents and copyrights "property" is some sort of modern rhetorical invention.
- nitrogen 16y agoThe description of ideas as property doesn't need to be a modern concept for one to believe that the concept has led society astray, or that the analogy between tangible property and intangible ideas is more heavily abused now than in the past.