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He shouldn't have to pay any fees at all, they were his plants from his normal harvest; it's not his fault roundup ready seeds blew into his fields. Being able

He shouldn't have to pay any fees at all, they were his plants from his normal harvest; it's not his fault roundup ready seeds blew into his fields. Being able to sue someone because your shit got out into the wild and happened to benefit someone else is absurd.

tptacek 11y ago
There's an intellectually coherent argument that Monsanto should not be able to patent the system of glyphosate-resistence at all. I'm assuming that's where you're coming from. But I'm not engaging with that argument. All I'm saying is: the thing that does not happen, but that everyone on the Internet seems to think happens all the time, is Monsanto seeds blowing onto some random field, and then Monsanto suing you when you sell the resulting crop. Everyone who has been sued by Monsanto has taken active steps to capitalize on their "unauthorized" seeds.
- gnaritas 11y ago
  > is Monsanto seeds blowing onto some random field, and then Monsanto suing you when you sell the resulting crop. > Everyone who has been sued by Monsanto has taken active steps to capitalize on their "unauthorized" seeds. Those are the same thing. That's what farmers do with crops, they capitalize on them by selling them.
kbenson 11y ago
That depends. If I have hundred dollar bills that the wind blows onto your property, are you allowed to keep them, or are you required by law to report found property? I don't see this as all that different, except that it may displace his current crop, so he may be able to sue (someone) for hardship caused by improper containment. Local laws may apply[1]. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost,_mislaid,_and_abandoned_property#Unclaimed_property https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost,_mislaid,_and_abandoned_p...
- gnaritas 11y ago
  If it blew into my $100 bill farm, and I could not possibly be expected to know some random $100 bill out the thousands I put there is yours, then yes I should be allowed to keep it. When seeds blow onto a farm, that isn't lost property, that's nature and it's indistinguishable from it not happening. You can't expect a farmer to notice stray seeds and turn them in to lost and found.
rhino369 11y ago
They weren't from a normal harvest. He specifically used round up on it to only get the patented seed. He purposely made round up ready seed.
- gnaritas 11y ago
  So what? He didn't steal those seeds, and the crops grown from them don't belong to Monsanto, but to him, he should be able to capitalize on their mistake. Monsanto is evil and this nonsense of patenting nature needs to be abolished for good. What the patent system has become is absurd, it needs abolished as well.

tptacek 11y ago

There's an intellectually coherent argument that Monsanto should not be able to patent the system of glyphosate-resistence at all. I'm assuming that's where you're coming from. But I'm not engaging with that argument. All I'm saying is: the thing that does not happen, but that everyone on the Internet seems to think happens all the time, is Monsanto seeds blowing onto some random field, and then Monsanto suing you when you sell the resulting crop. Everyone who has been sued by Monsanto has taken active steps to capitalize on their "unauthorized" seeds.

gnaritas 11y ago
> is Monsanto seeds blowing onto some random field, and then Monsanto suing you when you sell the resulting crop. > Everyone who has been sued by Monsanto has taken active steps to capitalize on their "unauthorized" seeds. Those are the same thing. That's what farmers do with crops, they capitalize on them by selling them.

kbenson 11y ago

That depends. If I have hundred dollar bills that the wind blows onto your property, are you allowed to keep them, or are you required by law to report found property? I don't see this as all that different, except that it may displace his current crop, so he may be able to sue (someone) for hardship caused by improper containment. Local laws may apply[1]. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost,_mislaid,_and_abandoned_property#Unclaimed_property https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost,_mislaid,_and_abandoned_p...

gnaritas 11y ago
If it blew into my $100 bill farm, and I could not possibly be expected to know some random $100 bill out the thousands I put there is yours, then yes I should be allowed to keep it. When seeds blow onto a farm, that isn't lost property, that's nature and it's indistinguishable from it not happening. You can't expect a farmer to notice stray seeds and turn them in to lost and found.

rhino369 11y ago

They weren't from a normal harvest. He specifically used round up on it to only get the patented seed. He purposely made round up ready seed.

gnaritas 11y ago
So what? He didn't steal those seeds, and the crops grown from them don't belong to Monsanto, but to him, he should be able to capitalize on their mistake. Monsanto is evil and this nonsense of patenting nature needs to be abolished for good. What the patent system has become is absurd, it needs abolished as well.