AfterDawn: News

Judge rules in favor of Apple in Psystar case

Judge William Alsup has ruled in favor of Apple this weekend, effectively killing Mac clone maker Psystar, whom the company had accused of copyright infringement.

"In sum, Psystar has violated Apple's exclusive reproduction right, distribution right, and right to create derivative works," Alsup concluded.

Apple started the suit in mid-2008, when Psystar began selling Mac clones with Apple's Mac OS X operating system running on it. Psystar says what it was doing was perfectly legal. Apple did not agree, and pointed to the Mac OS X end user license agreement which states the OS can only be installed on Apple computers.



Psystar had tried to pass their sales on as "fair use" but Judge Alsup said the company "does not even attempt to address the four factors used to determine fair use."

Additionally, Alsup said Psystar violated the DMCA: "Psystar has violated the DMCA by circumventing Apple's protection barrier and trafficking devices designed for circumvention."

The hearing for whether Apple will receive a permanent injunction or other "remedies" is set for December 14th.

You can read a PDF of the ruling here: Psystar v Apple ruling

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 15 Nov 2009 22:40

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• 11 comments

• Amak

  Eh, the good news is that Apple's close mindedness is slowly starting to come back to haunt them. Thanks, Jobs^_^

  16.11.2009 00:49 #1

• ZippyDSM

  So...they are suing them because they loaded OSs that they sold with the computer??
  
  .....................wut?

  16.11.2009 01:34 #2

• Amak

  According to Apple's draconian TOS, their OS cannot be loaded on non-Apple hardware.

  16.11.2009 02:17 #3

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by Amak: According to Apple's draconian TOS, their OS cannot be loaded on non-Apple hardware....why did they make it compatible with non apple hardware then??
  
  Its like the world will end if they sell their product any....oh.....wait....

  16.11.2009 02:19 #4

• Mysttic

  Basically they had no authority to re-sell Mac OS X on a PC they built to act as a clone. As OS X is technically licensed to each user, you there for do not own it, ever. Even if you buy it retail in stores and install it to a PC, you don't own it. So from my understanding of the case, this company bought copies of OS X to redistribute thus making $ off their OS without the consent of Mac to do so. It was a fair win for Apple; doesn't make it any less stupid tho.

  16.11.2009 08:48 #5

• xnonsuchx

  I feel like a Simpson's Nelson laugh coming on. :-)
  
  This was totally expected and woulda had horrible repercussions to the entire commercial software industry if Psystar had prevailed. Keep in mind Psystar wasn't just reselling Mac OS X, but selling hacked versions of it. While providing hacks for free to individual users to use on their own is still against a EULA, it is not necessarily copyright infringement.
  
  Die, Psystar...DIE!!!

  16.11.2009 18:03 #6

• DDR4life

  Aw, man. And here I was thinking of buying an entry-level "Mac" without having to sacrifice the requisite "arm & leg." Oh, well, I guess I'll just have to settle for a Hackintosh. lol

  16.11.2009 22:54 #7

• xnonsuchx

  Originally posted by DDR4life: Aw, man. And here I was thinking of buying an entry-level "Mac" without having to sacrifice the requisite "arm & leg." Oh, well, I guess I'll just have to settle for a Hackintosh. lol
  Psystar's site is still up...for now! :-)

  16.11.2009 23:53 #8

• KillerBug

  Quote:...why did they make it compatible with non apple hardware then??They didn't design it that way...it is just that mac uses standard PC components with an insane price premium. A MAC is just a PC with a hacked bios so that you do not need a hacked version of macOS.
  
  Originally posted by xnonsuchx: Die, Psystar...DIE!!!I agree with this part...MAC sucks, and anyone selling systems with such terrible operating systems should go out of business...starting with Apple.

  17.11.2009 00:16 #9

• Daniel_1

  Originally posted by Amak: According to Apple's draconian TOS, their OS cannot be loaded on non-Apple hardware.
  Ok, then why dont apple sue themselves for violations of their own TOS? Sounds stupid, right? But wait it gets better. If you own the free version of Quicktime or the paid version and want to upgrade..Apple then places or tries to anyway, a legal copy of their browser on your PC. Now if Apple says you cannot install MAC programs on a PC according to their TOS, then someone explain why Apple is doing it themselves?
  
  Can you say hypocrit?

  19.11.2009 10:37 #10

• 0ldskool

  What Psystar shoulda done is sold their computers with Windows installed but made sure the hardware was compatable with OSX. That way if a user "buys" and installs OSX, Psystar is off the hook yet is still able to produce Mac clones. Ofcourse this doesnt work if Psystar needs to install it themselves because they reverse engineered OSX.

  28.11.2009 17:52 #11