Intellectual property is a propaganda term used by proponents of copyrights and patents to promote the idea that government-enforced monopolies over ideas and parts of ideas share the beneficial effects of property. In fact, economic research shows that both copyrights and patents do more economic harm than good. In many areas, including copyright and software patents, the only reasonable policy conclusion is abolition. In other areas such as pharmaceutical products, a complex web of regulation and laws have grown around patent protection, and the best method of unraveling this web is still to be found.