Ruminations on terminology [LWN.net]

Ruminations on terminology

Posted Aug 30, 2007 13:23 UTC (Thu) by bignose (subscriber, #40)
Parent article: Ruminations on software freedom

This article makes good points and I thank the author for writing it. The points are somewhat undermined, though, by some poor terminology choices.

> All of which might be reasonable for a truly pirated copy, but for users who are properly licensed, it is annoying, at best, to be treated as a criminal.

Please don't legitimise the usage of "piracy" to refer to anything but the existing crime of that name: violence and theft against ships on the open sea. Unless the software was taken in this manner, there's no such thing as a "truly pirated copy".

Saying "truly infringing" or "truly copyright-infringing" would be more accurate and avoid the emotionally-laden term.

> many copy protection and license key schemes depend on

Please don't refer to *restrictions* on users' freedom as "protection", since it makes the error of presenting those who employ the restrictions as people in need of defence from some harm. Referring to "copy restriction" is more accurate and avoids that error.

> The copyright owners may be within their rights

Talking about a "copyright owner" is misleading; copyright is held for a limited time, there is no "ownership" of a copyright in the sense many people understand it, and this term reinforces the fiction that copyright is a permanent property right. Referring to "copyright holders" is more accurate and less misleading.

These terms may superficially seem like insignificant points to dwell on, but framing the debate is a vital part of how these issues are discussed. The misleading terms "software pirate", "copy protection", "copyright owner" are all explicitly chosen by those who wish to frame the debate as one of "intellectual property".

If you reject that view, please don't use it's terms, and please correct others when they (consciously or otherwise) use them to frame the discussion that way.

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