[PEN-L:809] Re: Copyrights and 'taters

[Alan Cibils <AC5621A@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Thu, 06 Aug 1998 23:52:30 -0400 Thomas Kruse said:
>
>There's a similar instance here of some gringa patenting a strain of potato
>from the high platueas.  I'll see if I can drum up the info.
>
There was a similar incident with a gringo trying to patent some medicinal
plant that was sacred to some tribes in the Amazon. As a result of this,
I believe it was COICA declared this gringo as "persona non grata"
and said that they could not guarantee his physical safety when he travelled
through their territory (Ecuadoran Amazon).

This led to a series of incidents including withdrawal of funding for
some projects in this area by the once progressive Inter-American
Foundation and the silencing of the Foundation's field staff by its
highly reactionary management.

I believe there is quite a bit on this matter, including some nasty
intimidatory letters written by one of the Foundation's reactionary
lawyers on the COICA and possibly on the LASA (Latin American
Studied Association) web pages.

If interested, I could probably get someone who was involved more
closely in this whole affair to write something, though they might
have to use a pseudonym for fear of losing their job.

Alan