Quote:
Originally Posted by pwalker8
I think that it's both because we must, i.e. one is a physical object and the other is an expression of an idea, as well as there are useful reasons for doing so. One must keep in mind that the term IP was coined to make it sound like things like copyright were the same physical property, not because it was an accurate expression of what they are (i.e. a government granted monopoly on making copies of a book or manufacturing a device [like copyright, patents originally had nothing to do with who actually had the idea or created the device]).
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I think we've had this discussion before
. Property has a specific meaning (a thing or things in owned) in legal and commercial circumstances. Non-tangible "rights" of many sorts have been treated as property (traded, subleased, used as collateral) for centuries before IP. Defining IP as having rights makes it property, no conspiracy required, just centuries of experience.