Intellectual property, more than ever, is a line drawn around information, which asserts that despite having been set loose in the world - and having, inevitably, been created out of an individual's relationship with the world - that information retains some connection with its author that allows that person some control over how it is replicated and used. In other words, the claim that lies beneath the notion of intellectual property is similar or identical to the one that underpins notions of privacy. It seems to me that the two are inseparable, because they are fundamentally aspects of the same issue, the need we have to be able to do something by convention that is impossible by force: the need to ringfence certain information. I believe that the most important unexamined notion - for policymakers and agitators both - in these debates is that they are one: you can't persuade people on the one hand to abandon intellectual property (a decision which, incidentally, would mean an even more massive upheaval in the way the world runs than we've seen so far since 1990) and hope to keep them interested in privacy. You can't trash privacy and hope to retain a sense of respect for IP.Nick Harkaway
About This Quote
The idea of intellectual property is that it allows the creator to control the use of their creation to ensure that others do not use it in ways that harm them. However, there is a problem with intellectual property such as the idea that information should be protected. It is impossible to get all people to respect intellectual property and privacy at once. It is impossible to have one without the other.
Intellectual property does not allow for privacy in a way that protects the individual from being watched by others. Privacy is a must for an individual in a modern society in order to not be seen or heard by others in public places.
Source: The Blind Giant
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