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Comment by penny500 | Hacker News Reader

1) If I sell you a CD, does that give you a legal right to make as many copies as you like?

2) You're free to plant non-Monsanto soybean seeds.

Monsanto is taking advantage of nature's proliferation to claim increasing ownership of what was originally an abundant resource (plant life).

Taking anything that is naturally abundant and making it artificially scarce is perverse and evil.

No, they are not. GM seeds are not "naturally abundant".

He just said that: "Taking anything that is naturally abundant and making it artificially scarce"

How exactly are they making "naturally abundant plant life" scarce?

By making their seeds more profitable, they are given an unfair advantage. People replace their natural seeds with GM that happen to depend on their pesticides and then forbid you to recultivating 2nd generation seeds. So they become dependent on GM seeds, which are scarce. That process can also be described as taking something that is naturally abundant and making it artificially scarce. Next question.

Monsanto doesn't have competitors, now? It has a monopoly on GM seeds and can charge whatever it wants without a hit to its bottom line? Really?

I never said GM seeds are naturally abundant.

I said "plant life" was.

They are now.

If I create a robot that makes more robots and sell you said robot... Should I get to claim ownership of all the robots said robot creates?

Update: So why would I Bother inventing and patenting said robot! To prevent others from creating and using said robot for commercial purposes. I'd then find a business model or revenue stream elsewhere. Said patent would be to protect my other revenue model. I just wouldn't sell any of my robots. Ad a non practicing entity is formed...

Yeah in this case, Monsanto beans were mixed in with regular seeds he planted that he bought from a grain elevator. It's ridiculous. RTA

Herein lies the problem.

Mixed seeds are still partially owned by Monsanto.

This is why we should never be able to patent life.

You can certainly plant non-GM seeds from Monsanto, but planting seeds that aren't from Monsanto or one of the other massive seed supply companies will get you into legal trouble because chances are they're contaminated with Roundup Ready soybeans.

If you get it contaminated unintentionally, you won't.

Stop lying. You will get sued anyway, you might just have a better chance of winning.

I'm not lying. Don't call me a liar. Monsanto has the same claim on its website. You can read about the suits on Wikipedia. The suits are also public record. Sue them. Go for it. You'll rake in several hundreds of millions and billions of dollars if you can prove its supposedly blatantly misleading claim.

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