>
>From today's Financial Times:
>
>The Seeds of Dispute
>
>By Scott Morrison
>
>In a landmark case, due to be heard by a Canadian judge next month,
>Monsanto is taking a 68-year-old farmer to court after he was discovered
>to be growing a variety of Monsanto's genetically modified canola
>(rapeseed) without its consent.
>
etc
I saw a long TV report about this case.
>From a strictly legal point of view it seems to me that Monsanto need to
look after their property more carefully rather than let it blow around in
the wind.
Protecting intellectual property in agricultural products is not a new problem. In the '30s armed guards were posted round fields where new strains were being developed (I don't have the reference right to hand, but I can get it).
New technology like GM food and IT seems to pose a problem for capitalist social relations, hence the slogan "information wants to be free". But all this reflects is a timie lag between the introduction of a technology and development of a legal framework which adequately expresses the new social relations.
It shows one sense in which development of the means of production comes into conflict with prevailing social relations. But in this case it seems Monsanto will protect their property rights.
In contrast might I suggest the slogan "Free the Weed!"
Joe.
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