Yes, companies are using GMO technology to increase profits... e.g. making pesticide resistant plants rather than plants which have inherent insecticide properties. However, that doesn't change the fact that GMO could be used to develop these improvements. Ergo, protests should be aimed at corporate misbehavior, not a potentially beneficial technology.
I could use a chain saw for a haircut, that doesn't mean that it's the appropriate or safe tool for the job. I don't have enough of the background to say whether GMO's have a possible benefit. But quite frankly, the issue is with the GMO's as they exist now, and how they are implemented NOW. If these things can be some super panacea, than why hasn't Monsanto done so, of if they can't or won't, why hasn't some compeititor undercut Monsanto by DOING so?