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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bill Ulrich who wrote (98898)	5/23/2003 7:51:18 AM
From: thames_sider	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Overly-broad patents can be contested in Court. Assuming that subsistence farmers in Mocambique (say) can take foreign multinationals to court, successfully, is IMO unlikely... Besides, seed viability is an issue. you have the choice of whether or not to plant a sterile variety, true - but if your choice is between starvation now or starvation and poverty next year, which do you choose? For us in the west, we still have a choice, just; we can choose other varieties. Countries which are struggling can easily be forced into a short-term expedient - it's the technique used by loan sharks, preying on those in difficulty knowing that they can then be locked into a very expensive repayment. (Actually this seems a rather good analogy). The makers of these new strains expect to make more money from them, yes? So, where - whom - does that money come from? Hence my ethical disagreements.