Example: HIV medication is sold at much lower prices in Africa. If prices in Africa were increased to the levels currently seen in the US, revenues on the African market would be reduced to approx. zero. If prices in the US were decreased to the levels currently seen in Africa, most R&D efforts would have to be stopped.

(This is just a response to the comment. It does not necessarily relate to the article.)

Most R&D efforts sponsored by private companies. Don't write the whole world off. There are plenty of funds and scientists that don't work for the private sector.

Sometimes greed promotes progress, other times it hinders it.

In summary, as long as it was manufactured legally anywhere in the world then you can damn well do with it what you like after you have bought it :)

What is more interesting is his comment on the “You Own Devices Act” (YODA). In the Internet of Things age, you may own the physical device but the licence to the software running on the device could be argued, is not transferrable. YODA enforces first sale rights to such devices making the software 'licence' transferable as part of the sale.

This is a gross overstatement. Most manufacturing does not involve copyright and so this ruling would have no bearing on that at all. The simplest way I can put this from my non-lawyer understanding is, "copyright law does not trump first sale doctrine".

Had this ruling gone the other way, copyright would trump first sale doctrine.

  Most manufacturing does not involve copyright

Neither "companies" or "the state" exist as things that can be favored, they are (at most) vehicles through which some subset of "the people" exercise power.

I would argue that the forms of anarchism usually argued to have this feature in fact favor the holders of wealth/capital over other people in the same way that capitalism does (and, in fact, are often forms of capitalism.)

OTOH, I'd also argue that any argument that views the state as a thing that can bear costs independent from the people is fundamentally misguided.

It's not really a disadvantage, it's more about economic parity. As a simple example, I pay more than 2.50 dollars for a loaf of bread in the US, but no way would anyone pay 80 baht for the same loaf in Bangkok.