Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which property rights are recognized. Richard Stallman, the free software advocate, in his “Did You Say “Intellectual Property”? It’s a Seductive Mirage ” article argues that, although the term intellectual property is in wide use, it should be rejected altogether, because it “systematically distorts and confuses these issues, and its use was and is promoted by those who gain from this confusion.” He claims that the term “operates as a catch-all to lump together disparate laws originated separately, evolved differently, cover different activities, have different rules, and raise different public policy issues.
Personally, I love the idea of sharing as quoted in GPL :
The licenses for most software and other practical works are designed to take away your freedom to share and change the works. By contrast, the GNU General Public License is intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change all versions of a program–to make sure it remains free software for all its users.
