edited
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jun2000/2000L-06-19-04.html
Farmer v. Monsanto: GM Seed Fight in Canada's Highest Court
By Fred Bridgland
SASKATOON, Saskatchewan, Canada, June 19, 2000 (ENS)
According to this story, Canadian  farmer Percy Schmeiser has engaged in
a
David v. Goliath battle which could save farmers and consumers around
the
world from a genetically modified food nightmare beyond anything they
have
experienced so far.
When Monsanto detected its gene in the samples taken from Percy
Schmeiser's
fields, Monsanto launched legal proceedings, accusing him of "stealing"
its
seeds and infringing its patent. Monsanto considered the case criticial
if
it hoped to protect its patent rights. Schmeiser countersued for for
trespass, crop contamination and defamation, accusing the company of
"arrogant, high-handed and shocking conduct and callous disregard for
the
environment." He said he had never bought Monsanto's seed and, far from
being a criminal who wanted to profit from stolen technology, he said he

was a victim of that technology invading his property and crops
uninvited.
If Schmeiser is correct, it is a story with vast implications -
biotechnology runs amok, polluting farmers' fields, enslaving producers
to
corporate seed masters and threatening to pollute the world's
biodiversity.
Schmeiser describes Monsanto's product as a "noxious weed" and likes to
open a pod of oilseed rape to show reporters the tiny black seeds and
explain that just one plant produces as many as 10,000 of them.
The Schmeiser-Monsanto court battle has huge implications for farmers
everywhere.

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