The only question raised by this case is if you wanted to fly to Manila, buy 1,000 textbooks at the Philippines price and then sell them in the US at the US price, could the textbook manufacturer claim that you imported unlicensed goods into the US?
Regardless of the consequences, it's surprising to me that anybody who doesn't earn money through regional copyright-based price discrimination thinks that it's proper for the government to put the force of law behind such a business model. If the original sale was licensed, what right does the copyright holder have to restrict further transfers of the original copyrighted good, including transfer to another country? I submit that common sense says none.
Common sense says that the copyright holder shouldn't stop you and me from transfering goods from another country (where we are on vacation) to our home countries. It would be absurd that I would have to leave behind my iPod that I bought in Dubai or the magazine I bought in Vietnam.
However, it's quite reasonable to prevent business import of goods from abroad. Then, you're basically preventing the producer from assigning different $-value in different regions. Sometimes, that is desirable (market arbitrage), but sometimes, it's not (phisical goods should more closely follow PPP (purchasing power parity), especially if their marginal costs are low).
However, it's quite reasonable to prevent business import of goods from abroad.
Why is it reasonable? They aren't counterfeit. They weren't produced in violation of copyright. They aren't dangerous. They aren't stolen. The only reason to ban their import is to protect the copyright holder's business model.
Whether the business model is desirable or not is not the question. The question is whether it deserves explicit protection in law, and I believe it does not.
If you mean there are sometimes reasons for import tariffs, then that might be true (it's a large debate in economics). I don't see why copyrighted goods should be treated specially, though. If a country wants an import tariff on books, just like on sugar or on steel, in order to maintain price differences, it should institute it directly, rather than via this roundabout copyright route.
Tariffs actually achieve just the opposite - it increases the cost of foreign imports. Also, it does it for everybody, also for authorized importers/resellers.
Well, sometimes there is hardly anything else but copyright that constitutes products (e.g. media, books). Personally, I would also enable the same kind of protection for trademarks (so that iPad could be sold for different price in West and elsewhere).
Wouldn't that be a restraint of trade? According to this: http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/countries_e/thailand_e.h... Thailand is a member of the WTO. If you prevent a business in the US from importing goods from Thailand that are not illicit or restricted, then wouldn't that constitute a trade barrier?
Regardless of the consequences, it's surprising to me that anybody who doesn't earn money through regional copyright-based price discrimination thinks that it's proper for the government to put the force of law behind such a business model. If the original sale was licensed, what right does the copyright holder have to restrict further transfers of the original copyrighted good, including transfer to another country? I submit that common sense says none.