Iraq law Requires Seed Licenses

Doc Ruby writes "The American Administrator of the Iraqi CPA (Coalition Provisional Authority) government, Paul Bremer, updated Iraq's intellectual property law to 'meet current internationally-recognized standards of protection.' The updated law makes saving seeds for next year's harvest, practiced by 97% of Iraqi farmers in 2002, the standard farming practice for thousands of years across human civilizations, newly illegal. Instead, farmers will have to obtain a yearly license for genetically modified seeds from American corporations. These GM seeds have typically been modified from IP developed over thousands of generations by indigenous farmers like the Iraqis, shared freely like agricultural 'open source.' Other IP provisions for technology in the law further integrate Iraq into the American IP economy."

Comments

One good thing will come of this

[austad]

Hopefully they will send armies of lawyers over. To Iraq. To argue... with angry Iraqis... who have AK-47's....

Yay!!

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm sure the Iraqis will just LOVE their newfound freedom!!!

Give me a break :/

I'll tell you what...

[tclark]

If any "IP" lawyers want to go over to Iraq and start filing lawsuits, I'll pay their airfares. Better that we fight the lawyers in Iraq rather than deal with them on our own soil.