The Future of Code

Paw Prints: Writings of the maddog
I went to watch a movie at our local "Art" movie theater the other day. The movie was called "The Future of Food" by Deborah Koons Garcia, which talked about the issues of generically modified food.
Without going into all of the issues surrounding altering genes in food, one part of the film was devoted to the fact that some farmers were being sued by companies who found genetically modified grain in the farmers' fields without the farmers having purchased the grain. The farmers claimed that the grain was carried there by the wind or birds, and that they had no way of keeping the modified grain out of their fields, nor even knowing that it was there. "No defense" was the reply of the seed companies, according to the film, since the genes were patented and the farmer was obviously including those seeds in their crop. Unfortunately it seemed as if a lot of courts were agreeing with the seed companies, not the farmers, and these issues were causing the farmers to destroy many of the seeds that they grew to renew their crops every year.
The film also discussed the issue of seed companies going to seed banks, "finding" unpatented genes in plants, and applying for patents on them. The companies would then sue farmers for using genetic material that the company had spent no time or money in developing.
I found this a bit disheartening. I remember that I learned in elementary school that pollen and seeds were spread by the wind and birds, and that this was a perfectly plausible explanation of why these genetically modified seeds were ending up in farmer's fields. I also thought about the similarity between software companies taking out frivolous patents on software concepts that had existed for a long time, but had simply not been previously patented.
I thought to myself, if these courts and the legislators can not understand about "the birds and the bees", then how can we get them to understand about the complex issues of computer software and patents?
maddog
Comments
comments powered by DisqusIssue 272/2023
Buy this issue as a PDF
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
News
-
An All-Snap Version of Ubuntu is In The Works
Along with the standard deb version of the open-source operating system, Canonical will release an-all snap version.
-
Mageia 9 Beta 2 Ready for Testing
The latest beta of the popular Mageia distribution now includes the latest kernel and plenty of updated applications.
-
KDE Plasma 6 Looks to Bring Basic HDR Support
The KWin piece of KDE Plasma now has HDR support and color management geared for the 6.0 release.
-
Bodhi Linux 7.0 Beta Ready for Testing
The latest iteration of the Bohdi Linux distribution is now available for those who want to experience what's in store and for testing purposes.
-
Changes Coming to Ubuntu PPA Usage
The way you manage Personal Package Archives will be changing with the release of Ubuntu 23.10.
-
AlmaLinux 9.2 Now Available for Download
AlmaLinux has been released and provides a free alternative to upstream Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
-
An Immutable Version of Fedora Is Under Consideration
For anyone who's a fan of using immutable versions of Linux, the Fedora team is currently considering adding a new spin called Fedora Onyx.
-
New Release of Br OS Includes ChatGPT Integration
Br OS 23.04 is now available and is geared specifically toward web content creation.
-
Command-Line Only Peropesis 2.1 Available Now
The latest iteration of Peropesis has been released with plenty of updates and introduces new software development tools.
-
TUXEDO Computers Announces InfinityBook Pro 14
With the new generation of their popular InfinityBook Pro 14, TUXEDO upgrades its ultra-mobile, powerful business laptop with some impressive specs.
I have eaten at many places that serve generically modified food