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"New Enclosures"
Corporations are developing a variety of new mechanisms to secure monopoly control of biotechnology and other emerging technologies. These new mechanisms - what ETC group refers to as "New Enclosures" - will supplement or even replace intellectual property as a means of strengthening corporate dominance over new technologies. The ETC group believes it is urgent to examine how non-patent technologies, such as genetic trait control, satellite surveillance, and the re-direction of biosafety regulations could impose monopolies that replace intellectual property as the major means of technology control in the 21st century.
Latest Publications
Type: Other
Date: Jun 26, 2008
Language: English
Date: Jun 26, 2008
Language: English
"Failure as Usual" Food Summit
Download PDF (457 KB) - about 82 seconds on a 56k modemJune 2008
ETC Group Translator
Ciao FAO: Another "Failure-as-Usual" Food Summit
Contrary to the opinion of many, June's Food Summit actually did something. It signaled the beginning of the end for the multilateral system as we know it. Over the next six months the food emergency - and the international institutions designed to address it - could get worse.
The full text offers a line-by-line interpretation of the Food Summit's final declaration.
Issue: During the 3-5 June 2008 World Food Summit, governments patched together sufficient funds to keep the lid on food rebellions for a few months but all the fundamental and long-term institutional and financial problems remain. In Rome, governments opted for a mythical "techno-fix" led by agribusiness in collaboration with the Gates Foundation and... Read More
Categories: Biodiversity & Genetic Resources, Biotechnology, CGIAR, Corporate Concentration, FAO, Human Rights / Farmers' Rights, Intellectual Property & Patents, Public / Private Relations
Type: News Item
Date: May 30, 2008
Language: English
Date: May 30, 2008
Language: English
The World Torpedoes Ocean Fertilization
Download PDF (109 KB) - about 19 seconds on a 56k modemETC Group
News Release
Friday, May 30, 2008
www.etcgroup.org
The World Torpedoes Ocean Fertilization:
End of Round One on Geo-Engineering
191 countries agree to a landmark moratorium on ocean CO2 sequestration
As the ninth meeting of the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) draws to a close in Bonn, Germany the world’s governments are set to unanimously agree a wide-ranging “de-facto moratorium” on ocean fertilization activities. This first-ever global decision on a geo-engineering technology should spell the end of commercial plans to sequester carbon dioxide by dumping nutrients into the open ocean. Nonetheless, one ocean fertilization company, Climos Inc. of San Francisco, appears to be moving full steam ahead in defiance of international consensus.
“The message from the UN... Read More
Categories: Geoengineering
Type: News Item
Date: May 29, 2008
Language: English
Date: May 29, 2008
Language: English
Global Moratorium on Ocean Fertilization?
Download PDF (102 KB) - about 18 seconds on a 56k modemETC Group
News Release
Friday, May 30, 2008
www.etcgroup.org
A Global Moratorium on Ocean Fertilization?
Delays, drama and diversions dog U.N attempts to reign-in commercial geo-engineers.
Stalled at the eleventh hour by three isolated countries that are attempting to block consensus, most of the world’s environment ministries and others are on the brink of reaching agreement on a worldwide moratorium on commercial ocean fertilization – controversial proposals to dump nutrients in the ocean to artificially alter the climate. The three blocking countries, Australia, China and Brazil have spent several days manipulating the process to avoid discussion and prevent progress, much to the exasperation of delegates and observers. The clock runs out on negotiations at 6pm today (Friday).
Following... Read More
Categories: Geoengineering
Type: Other
Date: May 26, 2008
Language: English
Date: May 26, 2008
Language: English
Call to Action on World Food Emergency
Download PDF (69 KB) - about 12 seconds on a 56k modem26 May 2008
ETC Group
ANNOUNCEMENT
www.etcgroup.org
Call to Action on World Food Emergency
On 22 May, International Biodiversity Day, ETC Group joined with civil society and social movements from around the world to launch a "Call to Action on the World Food Emergency." ETC Group is attending the 9th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Bonn, 19-30 May 2008.
ETC Group invites you to sign on to the international Call to Action by social movements and civil society on the World Food Emergency and the underlying loss of biodiversity. To read the full statement in English, French and Spanish, go here .
No More “Failures-as-Usual"!
... Read More
Categories: FAO
Type: News Item
Date: May 21, 2008
Language: English
Date: May 21, 2008
Language: English
Captain Hook Awards for Biopiracy 2008
Download PDF (111 KB) - about 20 seconds on a 56k modem
Download PDF2 (4 MB) - about 765 seconds on a 56k modem(PDF2 above contains the complete poster)
News Release
Coalition Against Biopiracy
Wednesday, 21 May 2008
www.captainhookawards.org
www.etcgroup.org
Captain Hook Awards for Biopiracy 2008
The Coalition Against Biopiracy* exposes Hooks and celebrates Cogs
Winners announced at the UN’s Biodiversity Convention in BonnToday the world learned which corporations, governments, institutions and individuals earned a spot in biopiracy’s hall of shame when the Coalition Against Biopiracy (CAB) announced the winners of the 5th Captain Hook Awards at a lunch-time ceremony during the Ninth Conference of the Parties (COP9) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Bonn, Germany.
“The Maritim Hotel, where the CBD meets this week and next,... Read More
Categories: Biodiversity & Genetic Resources, Biopiracy, Biotechnology, Geoengineering, Human Genomics, Human Rights / Farmers' Rights, Intellectual Property & Patents, Other, Synthetic Biology, Terminator & Traitor
Type: Communiqué
Date: May 13, 2008
Language: English
Date: May 13, 2008
Language: English
Patenting the "Climate Genes" ...and Capturing the Climate Agenda
Download PDF (766 KB) - about 137 seconds on a 56k modemCommuniqué
May/June 2008
Issue # 99
Patenting the “Climate Genes”…
And Capturing the Climate Agenda
Issue: The world’s largest seed and agrochemical corporations are stockpiling hundreds of monopoly patents on genes in plants that the companies will market as crops genetically engineered to withstand environmental stresses such as drought, heat, cold, floods, saline soils, and more. BASF, Monsanto, Bayer, Syngenta, Dupont and biotech partners have filed 532 patent documents (a total of 55 patent families) on so-called “climate ready” genes at patent offices around the world. In the face of climate chaos and a deepening world food crisis, the Gene Giants are gearing up for a PR offensive to re-brand themselves as climate saviours. The focus on so-called climate-ready genes is a golden... Read More
Categories: Biodiversity & Genetic Resources, Biotechnology, CGIAR, Corporate Concentration, FAO, Human Rights / Farmers' Rights, Intellectual Property & Patents, Public / Private Relations
Type: News Item
Date: May 12, 2008
Language: English
Date: May 12, 2008
Language: English
News Release: Gene Giants Grab "Climate Genes"
Download PDF (115 KB) - about 21 seconds on a 56k modemETC Group
News Release
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
www.etcgroup.org
Gene Giants Grab "Climate Genes"
Amid Global Food Crisis, Biotech Companies are Exposed asClimate Change Profiteers
A report released today by Canadian-based civil society organization, ETC Group, reveals that the world's largest seed and agrochemical corporations are stockpiling hundreds of monopoly patents on genes in plants that the companies will market as crops genetically engineered to withstand environmental stresses associated with climate change - including drought, heat, cold, floods, saline soils, and more. ETC Group's report warns that - rather than a solution for confronting climate change - the promise of so-called "climate-ready"... Read More
Categories: Biotechnology, CGIAR, Corporate Concentration, FAO, Human Rights / Farmers' Rights, Intellectual Property & Patents, Public / Private Relations
Type: News Item
Date: Apr 30, 2008
Language: English
Date: Apr 30, 2008
Language: English
Hollow Victory: Enola Bean Patent Smashed At Last (Maybe)
Download PDF (124 KB) - about 22 seconds on a 56k modemETC Group
News Release
29 April 2008
www.etcgroup.org
Hollow Victory: Enola Bean Patent Smashed At Last (Maybe)
The infamous Enola bean patent, first denounced by ETC Group eight years ago as a textbook case of biopiracy, was struck down yesterday (April 29, 2008) by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office in Washington, D.C. One of the most controversial plant patents in history, the effort to defeat it was unprecedented because it involved the United Nations and international plant breeding institutes.
“Many people are calling the PTO’s decision to reject the Enola bean patent a victory, but we’re inclined to call it a travesty,” said Hope Shand of ETC Group. “In essence, the U.S. patent system allowed the owner of a flagrantly unjust patent to legally monopolize markets and destroy competition – for close to half... Read More
Categories: Biopiracy
Type: News Item
Date: Mar 07, 2008
Language: English
Date: Mar 07, 2008
Language: English
The Coalition Against Biopiracy today calls for nominations for the Fifth Captain Hook Awards
Download PDF (320 KB) - about 57 seconds on a 56k modemNews Release
Coalition Against Biopiracy
7 March 2008
www.captainhookawards.org
Ahoy, Mates! The Coalition Against Biopiracy today calls for nominations for the Fifth Captain Hook Awards
*** Please Circulate to Your Networks throughout the Seven Seas ***
What's the most scandalous case of biopiracy[1] in your country? Who's ripping off indigenous knowledge in your community? Which privateer is most egregiously pillaging the global commons for profit? Who's monopolizing your genes or patenting your plants?
Nominate your least favorite pirate for a 2008 Captain Hook Award. All outrageous achievements in biopiracy deserve recognition!
Nominate your most admired biopiracy-resistor for a 2008 Cog... Read More
Categories: Biodiversity & Genetic Resources, Biopiracy, Cultural Diversity, Intellectual Property & Patents, "New Enclosures", Public / Private Relations
Type: Other
Date: Mar 03, 2008
Language: English
Date: Mar 03, 2008
Language: English
Direct-to-Consumer DNA Testing and the Myth of Personalized Medicine: Spit Kits, SNP Chips and Human Genomics
Download PDF (651 KB) - about 116 seconds on a 56k modemETC Group
3 March 2008
www.etcgroup.org
Special Report on Human Genomics, Part I
Direct-to-Consumer DNA Testing and the Myth of Personalized Medicine:
Spit Kits, SNP Chips and Human Genomics
In the coming months, ETC Group will publish a series of reports on the impact and implications of human genomics. The topic of the first report in the series is the burgeoning Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) genetic testing industry, which is promising consumers a guidebook for maintaining health as well as a gene-based horoscope predicting future illness. The second report will examine large-scale human genomics... Read More
Categories: Cultural Diversity, Human Genomics, Public / Private Relations
Type: Communiqué
Date: Feb 26, 2008
Language: English
Date: Feb 26, 2008
Language: English
Svalbard's Doomsday Vault: The Global Seed Vault Raises Political/Conservation Debate
Download PDF (228 KB) - about 41 seconds on a 56k modemThe swarm of media attention focusing on today's opening of the Global Seed Vault in Norway's high Arctic may overshadow an even bigger news story. Yesterday, 26 February, the Norwegian government pledged to give 0.1% of money spent on commercial seed sales to support Farmers' Rights, and challenged other governments to do the same. The critical message is that even the most secure gene bank storage is not the ultimate solution. Governments must provide support to farmers to improve local conservation and breeding, and help them obtain access to far away seed accessions. Global food security depends upon a coherent in situ (on-farm) and ex situ (gene bank) strategy. The need to support farmers' on-farm conservation and breeding work is urgent.
On the occasion of the opening of the Global Seed Vault in Svalbard, Norway, ETC Group releases a new Communiqué, "Svalbard's... Read More
Categories: Biodiversity & Genetic Resources, CGIAR, FAO, Human Rights / Farmers' Rights, Public / Private Relations
Type: Communiqué
Date: Feb 12, 2008
Language: English
Date: Feb 12, 2008
Language: English
Food’s Failed Estates = Paris’s Hot Cuisine... Food Sovereignty – à la Cartel?
Download PDF (1 MB) - about 197 seconds on a 56k modem
Download (2 MB) - about 383 seconds on a 56k modem*also available in French
Communiqué
January 2008
Issue # 97
Food’s Failed Estates = Paris’s Hot Cuisine
Food Sovereignty – à la Cartel?
Because governments have failed to govern, the leading multilateral institutions involved in food and agriculture are in deep trouble. Unless governments and international secretariats cooperate, these institutions will be irreparably damaged and the power vacuum OECD states have created over recent decades will continue to be filled by multinational agribusiness and the new philanthro-capitalists.Issue: Food Sovereignty, the political philosophy introduced by Via Campesina, has become a hot geopolitical topic. For the first time in decades, food issues are... Read More
Categories: Biodiversity & Genetic Resources, CGIAR, Corporate Concentration, FAO
Type: News Item
Date: Jan 24, 2008
Language: English
Date: Jan 24, 2008
Language: English
Venter Institute Builds Longest Sequence of Synthetic DNA (that Doesn’t Work)
Download PDF (144 KB) - about 26 seconds on a 56k modemETC Group
News Release
24 January 2008
www.etcgroup.org
Venter Institute Builds Longest Sequence of Synthetic DNA (that Doesn’t Work)
“It’s not how long – but how wise” cautions ETC Group
ETC Group today renewed its call for a moratorium on the release and commercialization of synthetic organisms, asserting that societal debate on the oversight of synthetic biology is urgently overdue. The renewed call came as J. Craig Venter’s research team announced that it has constructed a bacterial-length synthetic genome in the lab using mail-order synthetic DNA sequences. They’ve named the synthetic genome, Mycoplasma genitalium JCVI-1.0, and it’s similar to its counterpart in nature, a genital bacterium with the smallest known genome of any free living organism. The announcement is not... Read More
Categories: BANG/Convergence, Biodiversity & Genetic Resources, Biological Warfare, Biotechnology, Corporate Concentration, Synthetic Biology
Type: News Item
Date: Jan 14, 2008
Language: English
Date: Jan 14, 2008
Language: English
Organic Pioneer Says No to Nano
Download PDF (135 KB) - about 24 seconds on a 56k modem**Updated January 16th 2008**
ETC Group
News Release
14 January 2008
www.etcgroup.org
Organic Pioneer Says No to Nano
ETC Group Welcomes World’s First ‘Nano-free’ Standard
Now that you can drive your ‘nano’ car, listening to your iPod ‘nano’ while wearing ‘nano’ sunscreen and ‘nano’ clothing, the UK’s largest organic certifier has just introduced the perfect nano-antidote – a ‘nano-free’ standard for consumer products. The Soil Association – one of the world’s pioneers of organic agriculture – announced today that it is has banned human-made nanomaterials from the organic cosmetics, foods and textiles that it certifies. (1)
According to the U.S.-based Woodrow... Read More
Categories: Biodiversity & Genetic Resources, Biotechnology, Nanotechnology
Type: Communiqué
Date: Dec 17, 2007
Language: English
Date: Dec 17, 2007
Language: English
Peak Soil + Peak Oil = Peak Spoils
Download PDF (456 KB) - about 81 seconds on a 56k modemCommuniqué
November/December 2007
Issue # 96
Peak Soil + Peak Oil = Peak Spoils
In the name of moving “beyond petroleum,” Big Oil, Gene Giants, governments, start-ups and others are forming partnerships that will extend corporate control over more resources in every part of the globe – while keeping the root causes of climate change intact. With grudging recognition that first-generation agrofuels are neither economical nor ecological, investors turn to other life-based technologies, including synthetic biology, for the next alternative fuel fix.
| Issue: In OECD countries, massive government incentives and subsidies – estimated to be as high as US$15 billion/year – are stoking... Read More |
Categories: Biodiversity & Genetic Resources, Biotechnology, Corporate Concentration, FAO, Synthetic Biology