Grow and Resist had a post about the Urban Homestead blow up, that I really liked.
She points out that until we fight and change the patent laws, this problem will come back again and again. Whether it's Monsanto grabbing corn genes from remote plateau villi ages in Peru, who never see any profits from that theft. Or multi-national companies stealing local herbal remedies to patent and profit from. Or companies patenting human genes. Or random bloggers trying to trademark common language. The symptoms all point to a patent system that is broken.
Yes, people need a way to protect their property, protect their designs and protect their investments in research. But does throwing two words together really make them "your property?" Do we really want living things protected as "property?" Do we really want to condone theft of ideas from those less powerful than us?
My answer is no. I'm not sure how to go about this fight. Except to encourage civil disobedience and pirate/steal that which is improperly defined as "property." I'm open to suggestions though!
1 comment:
Is there a Pirate Party in the U.S.? Maybe you should look into that. Some might consider them a gimmick but they are a small but growing force internationally, focusing on patent reform, internet neutrality, and other worthwhile endeavours. Unfortunately U.S. and Canadian (I'm Canadian) voting systems aren't based on proportional representation which but it's still worth looking into.
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