Re: gpl licensing

[Richard Tobin]

In article <87ac22wj2e.fsf@toncho.dhh.gt.org>,
John Hasler  <john@dhh.gt.org> wrote:

>Patents, copyrights, and to a lesser extent trademarks are all
>transferrable "rights against the world" and thus have enough of the
>characteristics of property to be treated as a form of property by the law.

The law his given certain property-like attributes to things which
would not otherwise have them.  Lumping these together as
"intellectual property" suggests that it is natural for them to have
those and other attributes of physical property.  Naturally, various
interests would like this to be the case, and using the term
"intellectual property" plays into their hands.  The same goes for
using terms like "theft" and "stealing" when referring to copyright
infringement.

-- Richard
-- 
"Consideration shall be given to the need for as many as 32 characters
in some alphabets" - X3.4, 1963.