[pp.int.general] WIPO DG mentions Pirate Party in speech to Blue Sky conference

[Richard Stallman]

    It strikes me that in order to stop people using it, it isn't sufficient
    to simply criticise it, but we must replace it with something more
    appropriate.

No term is appropriate.

The deeper problem with "intellectual property" is that it generalizes
about laws that are not similar.  Replacing that term with another
would fail to address this problem.

When people want some replacement term, it is because they believe that
these laws are similar and that it makes sense to talk about all of
them together.  Why do they believe that?  Mainly they get that idea
from the term "intellectual property".

If we use some replacement term for the same pseudo-concept, it will
give them the same mistaken idea, that these laws are similar and that
it makes sense to talk about all of them together.

It is easier, sure, but it doesn't fix the problem.

    [There's an interesting, if technical and UK-centric discussion of the
    history of the term IP here, covering the age of industrial property
    (that made a little more sense) - worth a read for anyone interested:
    https://sites.google.com/site/petergroves81/Home ]

The term "industrial property" typically had a narrower meaning.
In some countries, at least, it meant patents and trademarks only.

-- 
Dr Richard Stallman
President, Free Software Foundation
51 Franklin St
Boston MA 02110
USA
www.fsf.org, www.gnu.org