The "intellectual property" misnomer

[Ben Finney]

On Sat, 12 Jul 2003 04:29:04 GMT, Raymond Hettinger wrote:
>> >> If the PSF holds the copyright to Python, please say that.  If the
>> >> PSF holds patents which cover Python, please say that.  If the PSF
>> >> owns the trademark for Python, please say that.  If the PSF has
>> >> trade secrets in Python, please say that.
> 
> PSF is the copyright holder and issuer of the python license to the
> code covered by that copyright.

Excellent.  So "The PSF is the copyright holder for Python".  No need
for gymnastics, and it actually says something meaningful.

> In layman's terms, it means exactly what Guido said.

The layman's understanding of "intellectual property" is confused,
doesn't relate to reality, and is harmful.  Please avoid use of that
term.

> Hope this helps,

It does, thanks.

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