Tuesday, November 13, 2018
The idea of intellectual property is nonsensical and pernicious
Aeon Essays: The grand term ‘intellectual property’ covers a lot of ground: the software that runs our lives, the movies we watch, the songs we listen to. But also the credit-scoring algorithms that determine the contours of our futures, the chemical structure and manufacturing processes for life-saving pharmaceutical drugs, even the golden arches of McDonald’s and terms such as ‘Google’.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
This is less a news article than an argument essay. And while the author makes an interesting point (that the phrase ‘intellectual property’ is too broad and we should prefer the terms of the individual branches under that umbrella, especially in a legal setting), I’m not sure how productive this piece is. I think I largely agree with his idea, but trying to eliminate a phrase from language, especially one that is not offensive, is optimistic at very best. Furthermore, taking the authors points on how the the phrase ‘intellectual property’ benefits whom to be true, pursuing some action to eliminate the phrase would put that action in direct opposition to major corporations like Disney and like corporations which largely make money by acquiring and selling intellectual property to make a profit. It’s a losing battle. Rather than simply say “intellectual property is bad, it shouldn’t be a thing,” I would be more pursuaded had the author included actionable plans to change the situation.
Post a Comment