“Open Source” Seeds Loosen Big Ag’s Grip on Farmers
“Open Source” Seeds Loosen Big Ag’s Grip on Farmers
Alexander Klepnev CC BY 4.0 “Open Source” Seeds Loosen Big Ag’s Grip on Farmers A handful of companies own the patents on virtually every seed planted in the US. Now, a new crop of unowned seeds is bringing biodiversity back to farming. By Michaela Haas Sign up for our monthly newsletter! When Jack ...
Open source is like a pressure valve for how much companies can screw people over. I hope this becomes a big thing.
I am excited to be planting the first OS-seeds this year that someone on matrix has donated to me : )
Even if these aren't used by a lot of farmers, them existing and being available is so awesome. Really makes me happy.
Looks like the intend is similar to the GPL in software. However, the word "pledge" seems a little vague to me. Also the article makes it seem as it there is no intellectual property behind Open Source seeds. If so, than that looks like a mistake, at least from the software perspective I'm having. In software copy-left licenses only work because copyright law exists, as copyright law allows the creator to formulate the license. Permissive open source licenses are subject to patenting and exploitation by corporate entities.
It's disgusting that plants are copyrighted.
"got a license to grow those seeds?"
it's a fucking plant.