cantdog
Waybac machine
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2004
- Posts
- 10,791
Here's the link, baby!
PERCY WHAPS MONSANTO
6/24/2004
Hoist a glass of cheer for Percy Schmeiser!
An unlikely hero, Percy is a family farmer who raises grain in Saskatchewan, Canada. In the last several years, however, his main crop has been raising hell against the brutish tactics of Monsanto,
This multibillion-dollar global pusher of genetically-manipulated Frankenfoods went after Percy with all of its corporate might, unleashing the hounds of hell from its legal department. Mr. Schmeiser raises canola, saving the seeds from one year's crop to plant a new crop the next year, as farmers worldwide have done for ages. But in 1997 Monsanto's hired spies found that some of the corporation's patented, genetically-altered canola plants were in Percy's fields and their seed had been replanted by him. So this giant sued him, branded him a thief, demanded his profits, and sought damages, penalties, fees, and court costs from the poor guy.
Yet, Percy had not planted Monsanto's perverted seeds; rather his unadulterated crop had been contaminated by pollen from altered Monsanto plants that had drifted from other fields. He argued that Monsanto's patent was hardly valid in such a case, and that he owed nothing for seeds he didn't know he had, had not wanted, and had gained no profit from.
He valiantly fought a long and costly legal battle against this bully, and now Canada's Supreme Court has ruled. While a narrow majority said Monsanto's patent was valid, Percy won a big personal victory, for the court agreed that he had not profited, was not a thief, and owed not a penny to the corporation.
Also, while the court ruled that Monsanto did have ownership to the altered plants that appeared in Percy's fields, this ruling is likely to bite the corporation on the butt. With ownership comes legal responsibility, and it opens the courthouse doors for farmers to sue Monsanto for contaminating their fields with its adulterated plants.
To learn more about his heroic fight, go to percyschmeiser.com.
PERCY WHAPS MONSANTO
6/24/2004
Hoist a glass of cheer for Percy Schmeiser!
An unlikely hero, Percy is a family farmer who raises grain in Saskatchewan, Canada. In the last several years, however, his main crop has been raising hell against the brutish tactics of Monsanto,
This multibillion-dollar global pusher of genetically-manipulated Frankenfoods went after Percy with all of its corporate might, unleashing the hounds of hell from its legal department. Mr. Schmeiser raises canola, saving the seeds from one year's crop to plant a new crop the next year, as farmers worldwide have done for ages. But in 1997 Monsanto's hired spies found that some of the corporation's patented, genetically-altered canola plants were in Percy's fields and their seed had been replanted by him. So this giant sued him, branded him a thief, demanded his profits, and sought damages, penalties, fees, and court costs from the poor guy.
Yet, Percy had not planted Monsanto's perverted seeds; rather his unadulterated crop had been contaminated by pollen from altered Monsanto plants that had drifted from other fields. He argued that Monsanto's patent was hardly valid in such a case, and that he owed nothing for seeds he didn't know he had, had not wanted, and had gained no profit from.
He valiantly fought a long and costly legal battle against this bully, and now Canada's Supreme Court has ruled. While a narrow majority said Monsanto's patent was valid, Percy won a big personal victory, for the court agreed that he had not profited, was not a thief, and owed not a penny to the corporation.
Also, while the court ruled that Monsanto did have ownership to the altered plants that appeared in Percy's fields, this ruling is likely to bite the corporation on the butt. With ownership comes legal responsibility, and it opens the courthouse doors for farmers to sue Monsanto for contaminating their fields with its adulterated plants.
To learn more about his heroic fight, go to percyschmeiser.com.
