Thursday, September 27, 2012

Angry Rabett

Angry Bear is quite wroth with the work rate of the current US Supreme Court, Eli's POV is more the more they work the more problems they create, however, there is one case on the docket that rings the Rabett's chimes. 

As old time readers of Rabett Run know, every Fall Eli goes on a five alarm rant about the practices of textbook publishers and the co-respondent faculty.  This year the US Supremes confront a case that could significantly lower the cost of textbooks.

A few years ago, an enterprising math grad student at Berkeley, Supap Kirtsaeng, noticed the large difference in price between the inexpensive (ok, not so pretty) textbooks at home in Thailand and those in Berkelistan.  Supap wrote home and told his folks to buy every textbook in sight and ship them to him in the US, which, upon arrival he resold.

John Wiley threw a fit and sued after Dr. (now) Kirtsaeng had earned about a million bucks.  The issue is picky picky and goes by the name of the first sale doctrine, e.g. that the publisher can only control the price of the original sale, the point of contention is whether this only applies to books printed in the US or all books on which there is a US copyright.  Lower courts have sided with Wiley but the decisions were narrow and everyjudge moaned that the Congress could have been clearer on that point.  There is some related law in a suit where Omega sued Costco and won for selling grey market watches at cut rate prices.

One can only hope.

11 comments:

Rattus Norvegicus said...

But grey market camera gear is still sold all the time in the US. Check out the B&H web site sometime. However, the cited suit is not very helpful...

David B. Benson said...

Hope? From the current supremes?

Eli deludes himself.

dbostrom said...

Funny how these corporations are all for "globalization" and sweet "harmonization" until somebody tries to erase their own particular cherished artificial scarcity tactics.

cRR Kampen said...

Free market protagonists crying hell when the free market does what it does and is supposed to be doing :)

J Bowers said...

If this had big ears it would be Eli.

dbostrom said...

Anyway, SCOTUS can't parse a sentence w/two clauses so don't get your hopes up.

Anonymous said...

Even if they manage to screw up the First Sale Doctrine, perhaps all is not lost for California college students.

-WheelsOC

RB said...

Not only is grey market camera gear sold by the likes of Amazon, the manufacturer apparently honors the warranty as well. Don't want to get the chance to check if it is true.

J Bowers said...

This should cheer everyone up: Scientist Cleared In Polar Bear Controversy

"This is an anti-climactic and kind of wacky ending to all this," says Ruch."

WhiteBeard said...

New on Charles Monnett in addition to J Bowers

Greenfieldboyce has been very good but this latest of her’s leaves out much.

http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/alaska-scientist-who-found-drowning-polar-bears-committed-wrong-doing-investigators-say#comment-114986

http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=1641&title=DROWNED%20POLAR%20BEAR%20PROBE%20CLOSES%20WITH%20A%20WHIMPER

New twists, weirder still.

If the big wabbit wrenches hisself from his current fulminations, takes an interest in this, and unearths a new illustration to accompany a post, he is really deserving of a general lowering of ears in his direction.

Rattus Norvegicus said...

RB, at least at B&H the warranty is supplied by B&H. I've saved a few bucks by buying grey, but I've never had to avail myself of the warranty. B&H seems trustworthy in other aspects, so I have no reason to doubt that they would honor the warranty.

Don't know about Amazon.