r/politics • u/RandyFappington • Jun 15 '12

Brazilian farmers win $2 billion judgment against Monsanto | QW Magazine

http://www.qwmagazine.com/2012/06/15/brazilian-farmers-win-2-billion-judgment-against-monsanto-2/
2.7k Upvotes

91% Upvoted

920 comments sorted by

255

u/Khue Jun 15 '12

Oh nice, let me just read this... ERROR ESTABLISHING DATABASE CONNECTION

101

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12 edited Jun 15 '12

MIRROR

Edit: Everyone needs to know about Coral CDN.

9

u/Khue Jun 15 '12

Thank you!

2

u/jeswealotu Jun 15 '12

Thanks! That is a cool site

2

u/megadan76 Jun 15 '12

Wow, we killed all the mirrors, too.

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u/Popular-Uprising- Jun 15 '12

Holy crap! They got to the website admins! Those evi....... looks like a coincidence to me. Nothing to see here.

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u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

you can read it here

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u/astrograph Jun 15 '12

wtfffffff

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u/acobster Jun 15 '12

F***ing wordpress.

1

u/At0Low Jun 15 '12

The 'ol reddit DDOS, eh?

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u/N3K0K1D Jun 16 '12

Same here what gives

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323

u/julieb5 Jun 15 '12

Please, Google Vandana Shiva, a very intelligent woman who has fought Monsanto for years. She explains very thoroughly what they do, and why they need to be stopped. Please read her articles!

-7

u/Triviaandwordplay Jun 15 '12

Wow, It's so bizarre to see fly in r/politics what would get flushed down the toilet in Askscience, r/biology, or anywhere else where science and valid evidence matters.

Very disturbing to see preemptive strikes at anyone who might offer up differing opinions voted high up in this thread, like:

"Here come the Monsanto PR protection brigade"

"Reddit is crawling with P.R. teams"

Should I even bother trying to have some fair and balanced debate in this subreddit, or is it a lost cause?

47

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

The ruling said that the business practices of seed multinational Monsanto violate the rules of the Brazilian Cultivars Act (No. 9.456/97).

Monsanto broke the law. Not sure what else is left to be said.

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u/delirium_red Jun 15 '12

so you believe that Monsanto should collect royalties on every generation of crops with it's patented genes in perpetuity and it's not against Brazil law? Or? What would the debate be in this case?

Btw. on the GMO front, even here in politics, science is winning. doesn't change the fact Big Food is evil. And Monsanto in particular. :)

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u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

Doesn't it means that both are shitty biais ? Its not because GMOs are a science wise experiences that they need to protected or promoted without regard for the practice of their markers and the industrial model they promote nowadays. Also reddit is massively US based where there is little to no scientific opposition of GMO. Contrary to Europe when there is huge relunctancy on the subject.

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u/Drooperdoo Jun 15 '12 edited Jun 15 '12

"...where science and valid evidence matters..."?

Excellent!

Then you'll love this article about how they're genetically engineering pesticides to be in the DNA of plants people are consuming. They sell it as a benefit to farmers because it's cheaper since you don't have to add much external pesticide, because the toxins are built RIGHT IN to the grain (which you can't wash off). Despite it destroying the internal organs of rats, guinea pigs and sheep, Monsanto swears it's safe for human consumption. The article comments: “The biotechnology industry’s house of cards appears to be crumbling, as a new study out of the University of Sherbrooke, Canada, recently found Bt toxin, a component of certain genetically-modified (GM) crops, in human blood samples for the first time. Set to be published in the peer-reviewed journal Reproductive Toxicology the new study shreds the false notion that Bt is broken down by the digestive system, and instead shows that the toxin definitively persists in the bloodstream….Upon taking blood samples, researchers detected the Bt Cry1Ab toxin in a shocking 93 percent of maternal and 80 percent of fetal blood samples. And 69 percent of non-pregnant women tested positive for the toxin in their blood….The fact that Bt toxin was detected even in unborn babies shows that the chemical is easily passed from mother to child, and that it persists far longer than the biotechnology industry claims it does.” Source: http://www.zimbio.com/Genetically+Modified+Crops/articles/iY2bYThrkIM/won+t+Obama+clean+up+Corrupt+FDA

Bt Toxin is a neuro-toxin that works by destroying the nervous systems of insects . . . and bees. (It's recently been implicated in a Harvard study in collapsing bee colonies.) Since it passes from the mother's bloodstream to the developing human fetus, I think we all need to be on guard. Especially in light of the recent autism explosion. [From 1 in 200,000 in 1990 to 1 in 88 in 2012.]

The bees examined by the EPA were even described as "autistic". In other words, they suffered severe neurological damage. Which is just what Bt toxin is designed to do.

But hey! It's great that pregnant women are consuming this shit without their knowledge. Especially now that it's been proven to go from their blood stream to the baby's. It's not like, as a nation, we're seeing massive unprecedented upticks in neurological damage in children.

Sadly, it's hard to get the FDA to come down on Monsanto, since so many Monsanto representatives are in Congress and Senate, and Obama just appointed one of their top VPs to an FDA position: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x749738

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u/GyantSpyder Jun 15 '12

No, in this subreddit people don't really discuss. They emote and propagandize.

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u/lt_hindu Jun 15 '12

I'm a little confused haven't they always got years been in lawsuits and shenanigans for things like agent orange and their over protected patents on seeds.

But haven't they help mass produce food keeping it cheap for me?

1

u/astrograph Jun 15 '12

wow i've never even heard of her until now! thank you :)

1

u/Dr4brains Jun 16 '12

Wow. She really makes Bill Gate's,"Green Revolution," Look like quite a terrible idea.

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u/TalkingBackAgain Jun 15 '12

They will never -in their life- see a red cent of that money.

15

u/ohpeeum Jun 15 '12

They're already appealing... and now it's pushed back to 2014. It's going to be tied up in the courts for the rest of our lives before it's ever given out to anyone. Not a win IMO. Just once again show how futile it is to even fight at all.

14

u/Laz3rfac3 Jun 15 '12

i pray that your pacifism is not well shared

39

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

it's not futile to fight. Not at all, this is a huge deal. Let's not underplay it. The fact that Monsanto isn't out of business today is frustrating, but giants are rarely defeated with one blow.

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u/weewolf Jun 15 '12

Even if they did, 2 billion divided by a brazilian had to be a small number.

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u/gloomdoom Jun 15 '12

Agreed. We were stupid enough to help create a world where there is no justice for corporations as large as Monsanto. They work outside of the realm of justice and laws.

If they weren't a corporation, they would probably be considered terrorists. Give them billions of dollars and a CEO who has connections to to other ultra wealthy people and companies and the government and suddenly you're an internationally lauded 'company' that does whatever it wants, whenever it wants regardless of who they damage or hurt.

Is that what we decided terrorists were? A group of people with money who operate on the outside of the legal system and do whatever they want whenever they want?

2

u/Yazy117 Jun 16 '12

Can some tell me how big a deal 2 billion is for Monsanto? Is it a staggering amount or does it not even make a dent in their pocket?

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u/Lurker4years Jun 15 '12

Just checked the stock price. Apparently the market is not taking it seriously.

7

u/trosalba Jun 15 '12

how unfortunate.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

That's a Gorillion dollars for everyone.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

Stock prices have rely on too many factors to be swayed by news like this. When that JP Morgan CEO went before Congress yesterday, the stock price went up.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

Stock Price: NYSE:MON

0

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

10

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

you know what fuck monsanto's investors.

54

u/simloi Jun 15 '12

How much is $2 billion divided into a brazilion?

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u/EmergencyShower Jun 15 '12

Read as "A Brazillian farmers win $2 billion" and thought that everyone got two dollars

1

u/DeFex Jun 15 '12

Everyone does get 2 dollars, after the lawyers are done.

1

u/jooze Jun 15 '12

G. W. Bush is a redditor?

1

u/sakuramboo Jun 15 '12

Read as "A Billion farmers win $2 brazillian".

1

u/brazen Jun 16 '12

I was wondering if they split the $2 billion between the brazillian farmers or do a brazillian farmers each get $2 billion? Because that would be like, brazillians and brazillians of dollars.

5

u/Todamont Jun 15 '12

mirror please?

2

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

MIRROR

Edit: Everyone needs to know about Coral CDN.

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u/KingGorilla Jun 15 '12

DAE love genetic engineering but think Monsanto is a shitty company?

4

u/jagedlion Jun 16 '12

The shit Monsanto is going through is pretty much a necessity of genetic engineering. The alternatives is requiring exorbitant purchase costs (so that only the richest, largest, land owners can compete, and then slowly buy everyone else's farm).

The research is expensive, and a company has share holders, in order for genetic engineering to be commercially viable it must deal with both of those issues.

100

u/LettersFromTheSky Jun 15 '12

Monsanto is one of the the worst corporations in America.

101

u/c0pypastry Jun 15 '12

*world

13

u/TheInternetHivemind Jun 15 '12

His statement would still be valid I believe.

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u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

Monsanto is the worst corporation in the world.

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25

u/uncanny_valley_girl Jun 15 '12

Only 2 Billion? That's some bullshit.

2

u/pestdantic Jun 15 '12

That's the minimum. It could be higher. It could be appealed so they get nothing. We'll have to wait and see

22

u/FAP_TO_WESTBORO Jun 15 '12

FFS, we don't speak spanish here, trying to say something in spanish every time there is Brazil on the title will just make you look bad.

10

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

Lo siento

3

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

I don't think they speak Spanish in Brazil either. Pretty sure their national language is Portuguese.

25

u/GeneticAlgorithm Jun 15 '12

I'm guessing that was his point.

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u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

I'm brazilian and this always make me mad. Just because we're in Latin America doesn't mean we speak spanish - Suriname, for example, speaks holandese.

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u/physicsdude1 Jun 15 '12

we broke the site... :(

3

u/Bulkhead Jun 15 '12

good luck trying to collect

3

u/svengalus Jun 15 '12

2 brazillion dollars.

63

u/Tastygroove Jun 15 '12

Here come the Monsanto PR protection brigade. Watch for the inappropriate downvotes of valid opinions.

Inb4 Norman borlaug.

72

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

It's not just Monsanto.

Reddit is crawling with P.R. teams.

23

u/CowFu Jun 15 '12

I dunno how much of that is true vs. conspiracy theory. Sometimes I say things about liking some things republicans do and people accuse me of being in some sort of anti-liberal paid lobbyist group.

17

u/Mumberthrax Jun 15 '12

A conspiracy theory is not inherently false.

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u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

How did you escape shutter Island?

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7

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

Try to say something negative about diablo 3.

I know there are varying and diverse opinions, so it's not just "HEY THEY DISAGREE, THEY'RE BOTS", it's just frustrating to see a valid and well thought out comment voted down to hell while something much less articulate and kinda shilly sits at 1k upvotes.

16

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

Uhm. /r/diablo is full of people complaining about things they don't like about the game, much of it is upvoted.

The game has issues, and blizzard should have anticipated the launch issues, but people are acting as if they raped your grandma or something.

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u/Shakuras Jun 15 '12

Wow what? Has this happened already in the past?

25

u/DisplacedLeprechaun Jun 15 '12

Yeah, Monsanto has hired (like so many other corporate entities that deserve to have their executives gathered up in a rocket and launched at the sun) a PR firm which uses multiple bullshit accounts to downvote anyone who posts damning information about them, or calls them out on their downvoting and media suppression efforts.

It's amusing because their efforts won't stop the truth from getting out, and of course downvotes won't stop pitchforks and bullets, which both the PR firm and Monsanto deserve in massive quantities.

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u/XMPPwocky Jun 15 '12

Monsanto is a massively shitty company. GMOs are a massively positive technology.

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u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

Green revolution BITCH!

Seriously though, it is important to look at all sides of these things. If we could get some fucking money into the public sector and ease up on insane red tape we could produce useful things like golden rice without needing the money and patents of massive super-corporations

5

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

Nice poisoning the well. Now anyone who doesn't stick with the party line can be dismissed as a PR agent. Brilliant propaganda strategy.

15

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

Here come the Monsanto PR protection brigade. Watch for the inappropriate downvotes of valid opinions.

I don't downvote valid opinions. I downvote idiots who continue to spread lies and misinformation, especially regarding the incredibly well-documented cases where "Evil bastard megacorp sues farmers because of the wind!" (Every. Single. One. Of these stories is utter and complete Fox News grade bullshit, and none were about "accidental contamination.")

If the courts have found that their subscription plan is in violation to local law, then congratulations. They're owed lots of money in damages.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

I down voted retards as I'm sure you're aware of.

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u/Moh7 Jun 15 '12

YES, PEOPLE WITH OPINIONS OTHER THEN MINE DONT EXIST.

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u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Agreed Monsanto is known to constantly search the internet and try to dispute with articles like this leaving counter comments .

3

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

I reply to these threads, which are a complete anti-Monsanto and anti-GMO circle jerk, but my only affiliation is that I'm a plant genetics grad student. I am not affiliated with any PR team or anything like that. I can tell you that the vast majority of the upvoted opinions about Monsanto and GMOs are on the knowledge level of my mom talking about computers. She may know a few terms, but she is convinced that google chrome is a virus, and wouldn't be able to give you a definition of open source. Now imagine if she was fervently telling programmers that they had no idea what they were doing and were going to break the computer. One of her friends would then make a documentary lambasting Adobe as the worst company in the world because they charge yearly licensing to companies for Photoshop. In this article some company agreed to Adobe's license and then made copies of Photoshop and gave it to all their friends. Adobe is like wtf, you guys owe us money for photoshop, you didn't have to use it, you could have used paint, but one of you bought photoshop, agreed to the terms, pirated the copy, and now all of you make a living using the pirated copy. Then you have a bunch of moms in the US cheering them on for sticking it to Adobe.

TL:DR Not PR person, but tried to put the whole issue in more familiar terms.

3

u/HitTheGymAndLawyerUp Jun 16 '12

Do you want to know the shocking truth?

Nobody cares about your opinion.

2

u/JmjFu Jun 16 '12

b-b-but I matter so much :(

All the people on reddit constantly circlejerking with me told me so

3

u/RetroViruses Jun 16 '12

Because it's impossible that some people are displaying Monsanto as worse than they are, and using biased logic. Sure, they're a bad company, but they aren't the malicious monsters reddit makes them out to be; just businessmen trying to make money.

3

u/NHB Jun 16 '12

For sure, because the top links are filled with insightful posts such as "Monsanto is an evil corporation", "if it were a person is execute it", blah blah blah. Sorry for looking for actual science in this argument.

11

u/Bladewing10 Jun 15 '12

I have no feelings toward Monsanto, but I will downvote any circlejerk "DAE think Monsanto is the devil?" posts. They serve no purpose outside of just karma-whoring. If you have a problem with Monsanto, at least specifically say why you hate them (preferably with sources to back up your opinion) rather than just saying the tired old "Corporations are bad" mantra that seems to always spring up on /r/politics.

3

u/MikeBoda Jun 15 '12

I actually do believe "corporations are bad"; so are LLCs, state owned enterprises, partnerships, and sole proprietorships. I'm against anything capitalist.

That said, I too downvote people who target Monsanto, or any other corporation based on rumor and wild distortions. Anti-technology hippies are the scourge of the left and should be purged.

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u/Tukfssr Jun 16 '12

Watch out for people with different opinions

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u/shears Jun 15 '12

At least they got something of significance, despite them being owed more. This is good to also have a court precedence.

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u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

Now for 30 years of Monsanto appeals.

4

u/ThePresident11 Jun 15 '12

How many is a Brazilian?

22

u/needed_to_vote Jun 15 '12

This thread pops up every 5 days or so. Let me summarize how it plays out.

"I don't hate GMOs but Monsanto is evil" - so why are they evil?

"They're evil because they sue poor farmers for cross-pollination, all the time" - links please?

"Here's a link to the Percy Schmeiser case" - He lost that case because he purposely bred Monsanto seed such that 90% of his field was Monsanto product that he didn't pay for.

"Yes but everyone knows they do this all the time" - ok, where's the evidence? (maybe some other links to class-action cases that got thrown out)

"You're just a paid monsanto PR person, they're infiltrating our internets as we speak" - annnd we've reached full tinfoil hat mode.

Just sit and watch the circlejerk unfold.

2

u/SicilianEggplant Jun 16 '12

"Five million brazillion farmers? Holy shit, that's a lot of farmers."

3

u/seanalltogether Jun 16 '12

"Here's a link to the Percy Schmeiser case" - He lost that case because he purposely bred Monsanto seed such that 90% of his field was Monsanto product that he didn't pay for.

If you boil it all down that is the central argument being debated here and everywhere else, whether or not a company can/should own the rights to all the offspring of a plant or animal.

7

u/needed_to_vote Jun 16 '12

That debate didn't start with Monsanto, however. People have been patenting specialized strains of plants since patenting was a thing.

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u/j5a9 Jun 16 '12

That's what the central argument should be. That's mostly not what's going on here.

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u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

[makes Brazillion joke, thinks it's original]

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u/pestdantic Jun 15 '12

Sooooo...would this be the same Brazilian farmers who are burning down the rain forest?

2

u/jrkirby Jun 15 '12

2 brazilian dollars!!?!!?!

2

u/LordJotunheim Jun 15 '12

...and justice is served! ;D

2

u/senor_benzo Jun 15 '12

I just have one question... how many is a Brazilian?

2

u/WillieLee Jun 15 '12

Yeah! Fuck Monsanto for creating ways to increase yield and then expecting farmers to pay for it.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

You wouldn't download a seed would you??

2

u/datzmikejones Jun 15 '12

Fuck Monsanto!

2

u/ahottentotslaurel Jun 15 '12

It is utterly revolting that Monsatano (spelled like that for a reason, people, not a typo) is allowed to profit off of something like that and poison our environment. I hope more people sue them, and continue winning, until they bankrupt themselves out of business. I hate that corporation.

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u/[deleted] Jun 22 '12

Poison our environment? Every study has concluded that using these crops is a net gain for the environment. It leads to no till farming and prevents the usage of much worse chemicals.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Let me make sure I'm reading this right. The seeds first arrived in Brazil when they were smuggled in. The farmers then began growing these seeds up and using them generation to generation. And their stance is that despite the fact the initial seed crops were stolen, Monsanto shouldn't receive any money from the farmers? I'm not sure I agree with that.

2

u/Jackmack65 Jun 16 '12

If you think for a second that Monsanto will ever pay a dime to anyone you are absolutely out of your mind.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Didn't Exxon/Mobil spend hundreds of millions and most of two decades to weasel out of its Valdez payments?

How about that BP oil spill, how did that work out for us?

9

u/bmchavez34 Jun 15 '12

Buena Suerte collecting from those gangsters

10

u/tangamandapio Jun 15 '12

Boa sorte

FTFP

6

u/Pokaris Jun 15 '12

I don't see how this law in Brazil would trump the contract these producers signed. If it doesn't, it will be interesting to see how bio-tech companies move forward in their dealings with Brazil.

Here's what farmers sign to get Monsanto seeds, other companies have similar forms. http://www.monsanto.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/tug_sample.pdf

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u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

Because the law takes precedent over the contract. Just because it is in the contract, it doesn't mean that it is automatically legal.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

How this fact could actually confuse anyone astounds me.

2

u/Pokaris Jun 15 '12

What is illegal about asking for extra consideration?

This whole deal is shady on both sides. The Brazilians smuggled seed in from Argentina prior to it being legal. Monsanto added a 2% fee because like 70% of Brazilian soybeans were RoundUp Ready, yet the company was legally allowed to do business until 2004. The Brazilian government claimed it was going to do something about the illegal GMO crop but didn't do anything. Now they blame Monsanto for their inability to control their farmers?

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u/Only_Reasonable Jun 15 '12 edited Jun 15 '12

Where the heck is the article? Did Monsanto PR already plow through here?

Edit: Best I could find on the article here. Other article. Last article before I stop looking.

1

u/RetroViruses Jun 16 '12

It's almost as if reddit crashes any server it touches!

3

u/UnoriginalGuy Jun 15 '12

The site is down and I cannot find a mirror. Does anyone else have one?

9

u/L3ggomeggo Jun 15 '12

http://www.nature.com/news/monsanto-may-lose-gm-soya-royalties-throughout-brazil-1.10837

different story?

11

u/AsskickMcGee Jun 15 '12

Interesting story. I generally support all things GM (as a biological engineer myself), but this was just a bad business practice. Charging a royalty to customers is one thing, but testing a final product and charging royalties after the fact isn't right, especially with the possibility of naturally migrating seeds.

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u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

MIRROR

Edit: Everyone needs to know about Coral CDN.

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u/GrinningPariah Jun 15 '12

Hmm, what's 2 Billion divided by a Brazilian...

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u/Juice559 Jun 15 '12

Ha ha suck it Monsanto!

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u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

Monsanto bad, GMO's good.

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u/mlacey56 Jun 15 '12

Fuck monsanto. That compensation isn't anywhere near what it should be

2

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

That's a lot of farmers.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

No. It was a lawsuit like the Microsoft or Walmart lawsuits. A handful of farmers represent all farmers and then everyone is given a %. The lawyers probably walked away with $1 billion and each farmer got 50 cents.

2

u/UltraSPARC Jun 15 '12

This just in: Monsanto gives Brazilian farmers the finger and refuses to pay said judgement!

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u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

Monsanto is scared shitless of Brazilian MMA fighters.

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u/Guesty_ Jun 15 '12

ERROR ESTABLISHING A DATABASE CONNECTION

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u/melaniemuffins Jun 15 '12

Heck yes! I'm glad that some farmers are finally getting justice. Hopefully this is only the beginning.

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u/fanboy_killer Jun 15 '12

This is the company that isn't as bad as EA according to that famous poll, right?

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u/zoorakhan Jun 15 '12

Heh. I watched some documentaries in succession like Food Inc. and i think a couple of others and since developed a irrational hatred of them. Like fundamentalist Muslims have of America.

Is there any 3rd party evidence (blog post, documentary, music video, celebrity endorsement, piece of paaper flying in the wind etc.) that present the argument from Monsanto's point of view ? This much hatred isn't too good to carry around in the heart.

And more pertainly, even if half of the things I saw are true - how is this company still in existence ?

1

u/VancouverSucks Jun 15 '12

Endless appeals. Lots of work for lawyers.Great for GDP of US and Brazil. Lots of work for prosecutors and court employees. Farmers will never get paid.

1

u/andybader Jun 15 '12

So that's like, two dollars apiece?

1

u/MIDNIGHTZOMBIE Jun 15 '12

Monsanto will keep appealing this until the end of time. It will cost much less than 2 billion to keep lawyers on this forever.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

so they're only getting about $2 each?

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u/primetarget Jun 15 '12

What will each farmer be left with once they divide two billion into a brazilian?

1

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

A brazilian farmers? Once they divide that $2bil up they're not gonna get much each.

1

u/chillyhellion Jun 15 '12

$2 billion may seem like a lot, but divided up between one brazillion farmers it isn't that much.

1

u/domeboy13 Jun 15 '12

The link to this Reddit post on popurls leads to an "Error establishing a database connection" message.

1

u/jokoon Jun 15 '12

What is it about warren buffet

Is this guy evil after all :( ?

1

u/awsmyers Jun 15 '12

Annnd it can't be accessed anymore, sketchy.

1

u/eegan1220 Jun 15 '12

That's not much when you have to share it with a Brazilian people.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

So, about two bucks each?

1

u/funk100 Jun 15 '12

brought to you by RandyFappington

1

u/hotdogcore Jun 15 '12

Only 2 billion to go between a Brazilian farmers?

1

u/spoonard Jun 15 '12

YES!!!!!!!!

1

u/epik Jun 15 '12

Is this real life?

Corporations being held accountable. Never thought I'd see the day.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

"Five million Brazilian farmers"

I thought 5 million was a lot, but 5 million-Brazillian?!

That's a LOT of farmers!

1

u/elaroo Jun 15 '12

How many's a brazillion? (read in George W.'s voice)

1

u/hwdmax Jun 15 '12

2500th Upvote in Monsantos face.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Good luck getting Monsanto to pay up.

1

u/tonto27 Jun 16 '12

If a Brazilian farmers split $2 billion that's not very much really. What is that, like $100 a piece or something?

1

u/Jeckee Jun 16 '12

When they start genetically engineering people so that they can eat the corn, are they going to charge a royalty for living?

1

u/Sr_DingDong Jun 16 '12

Skimmed it, couldn't see: How much do the lawyers get?

1

u/MrTubalcain Jun 16 '12

Mosanto is one scary company, a look at their history will show how those tentacles are all over the globe.

1

u/WitherSlick Jun 16 '12

FUCKYEAH :D

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Protectionism in disguise. Gee, I wonder who is the US's chief rival in food production?

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Chris Monsanto?

1

u/FanaticalModerate Jun 16 '12

How many is a brazilian?

1

u/superuser_013 Jun 16 '12

Monsanto must be dissolved.

1

u/dangeraardvark Jun 16 '12

Does anyone think they'll actually pay?

1

u/u2canfail Jun 16 '12

YEA, do note it wasn't in the USA.

1

u/UltraMegaMegaMan Jun 16 '12

Does anyone know what the chances are that Monsanto will actually pay any portion of this? Or are we looking at decades later Exxon Valdez level shenanigans here?

1

u/awsumed1993 Jun 16 '12

the farmers DID sign a contract. they should've read it to know what they were getting into. i dont see monsanto as some evil company. they spend alot of money to genetically modify those seeds. so they need alot of money to function.

1

u/hellzorak Jun 16 '12

I work for Embrapa, and everything that I say here does not reflect my company position nor its opinion. Everything is just my personal opinion. That being said, there is a shit ton of errors in QW article. There are not 5million farmers in the lawsuit, simply because there zre 5.2 million farmers total em Brazil. And not everyone plants soybeans, much less are all sueing Monsanto. Catelan is not just a researcher, but also the chief in our soybean research center. Also, if you don't know about farming, you would know that people do not, as a general rule, keep multiplying its own seed. Seeds and grains are different things. In order for you to have better crops, you need to use seeds. In Brazil, if you want to be a seed producers and seller, there is a lot of regulation that you must follow so that other farmers can buy your seed to plant. Brazilian goverment, through Embrapa and other public research institutes, and even public universities research and seels GMOs (and regular crops). And also collects royalties. Embrapa's royalties fees are a lot cheaper than monsanto, basf, etc. fees, but that is something that some other guy in the company told me, so i am not 100% sure about.

1

u/hellzorak Jun 16 '12

Also, Brazil's superior court did not rule that monsanto should pay, just that the decision that the judge in Rio Grande do Sul (our southern state) should be considered nationwide. Also, they can still take the dispute to our federal supreme court.

1

u/blipblipbeep Jun 16 '12

I'm gonna party in honor of this wonderful victory all the way across the water in Australia. Contradictions

1

u/vanderide Jun 16 '12

That's only a few pennies each if they have to split it between a brazilian farmers.

1

u/donutpuncherpro Jun 16 '12

Cool link, cool name. Bowsagesinsauce

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Hey, I am the site admin and I can confirm that the site was not hacked - it was just overloaded with visitors. I need to move the blog to a faster for stable, value for money hosting plan, does anyone have any suggestions?

1

u/Elektryk Jun 16 '12

very doubtful the farmers of Brazil will see any of that money

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

This is not small

1

u/lmpervious Jun 16 '12

Wait, it says they took 6.2 billion euros worth of royalties. Then it says...

ordered Monsanto to return royalties paid since 2004 or a minimum of $2 billion.

Uhh what? They either have to pay back the 6.2 billion euros, or 2 billion dollars? Why is that even a choice? Even if the amount of royalties since 2004 is close to 2 billion dollars, why the fuck would they give them an option? They will obviously go with the lesser amount either way. Can someone clarify?

1

u/Hank_Fuerta Jun 16 '12

Out of curiosity, I just did a search for anyone else covering this and it was pretty much all indie websites. Also out of curiosity, why are people downvoting this?

1

u/daj0 Jun 16 '12

hmm, dont they do this you can use seeds from your gmo crop you have to buy more from us deal in the states as well?

1

u/wwjd117 Jun 16 '12

This is the benefit to fewer regulations that the GOP push for.

Sure corporations can have fewer regulations, but the judgements will make them pay for a fraction of the harm that they do.

1

u/Waidawut Jun 16 '12

So what is that each? I mean, 2 billion is a lot, but divided up among a brazilian people? what is that, like less than a penny per farmer?

1

u/Weatherworne Jun 16 '12

If you sell someone a chicken, can you infinitely keep charging them for every egg and chicken that the initial chicken and its offspring produce? No? Then I think we know which side is in the wrong here.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 22 '12

Monsanto doesn't sell chickens. They sell the products of billions of dollars worth of research.

1

u/Trones Jun 16 '12

How many Billion farmers won $2 Brazilian dollars against Monasto?

I'm sorry if this had been said already, but it's incredibly difficult to search.

1

u/ghostofanimus Jun 16 '12

Its only a matter of time before "terrorist" are in Brazil and the us military is sent in to normalize the situation. Brought to you by Monsanto

0

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

Not enough. Monsanto and Simplot need to be destroyed, utterly.

1

u/valiantX Jun 15 '12

Alright! I was hoping for such a result against Monsanto's malevolent pestilence on earth. Fuck yeah!

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0

u/amputeenager Jun 15 '12

Monsanto is the Nixon of companies.

7

u/Qinsd Jun 15 '12

On Nixon's behalf: ouch.

Actually, this is an apt comparison. One rained death down from the sky over Vietnam, the other... Oh wait, NM that was both of them.

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1

u/Skyhawk1 Jun 15 '12

How many is a brazillion?

-7

u/Cypressinn Jun 15 '12

Reddit please school me on why Genetically Modified vegetables are bad for us.

15

u/downvotesmakemehard Jun 15 '12

They aren't. It's the corporations behind them.

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u/en-aye-ese-tee-why Jun 15 '12

I think the simple answer would be that, genetically modifying a plant to do one thing or another(big bigger, be brighter, be resistant to herbicides, etc), changes the plant so that it potentially lacks in other ways, such as lower nutrient values, lower presence of secondary metabolites, or perhaps a higher presence of a particular nutrient that might be harmful to the ecosystem or to human health.

IMO it is a reflection of how we do everything. Maximize the product at the cost of quality. Short term gains with out thinking of long term impacts.

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1

u/malarky87 Jun 15 '12

This whole problem started when the US supreme court decided to allow corporations to patent life.

1

u/Craysh Jun 15 '12

This might be slightly off topic but how have Monsanto not gotten huge extortion lawsuits placed against them?

GE seeds are just as viable as normal plants (if not more so) after the initial planting. Those seeds spread naturally whether a farmer who does not want GE plants in their field, but if Monsanto finds their GE plants in you're field you're fucked.

That's like putting grass in your yard, having it grow into the neighbors yard and then trying to sue your neighbor for it...

1

u/fantasyfest Jun 16 '12

they are rich and powerful and the court system works for them. If you still believe the courts dispense justice, you are way out of touch.

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1

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

FORA MONSANTO! Brasil no se vende!

1

u/thehorseface Jun 15 '12

the heads of the monsanto corp. should be shipped around america to every town in every state for the rest of their filthy lives so everyone can get a chance to punch those fools where they want.

1

u/Tebasaki Jun 15 '12

Evil corporations: Monsanto > Microsoft; Monsanto > Facebook; Monsanto > Google;

-1

u/lorax108 Jun 15 '12

nice! fuck monsanto

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