Apple sues Mac cloner Pystar
p2pnet news view Freedom | Products:- Pystar hit the headlines in April with its Mac Clone.
The company set it out like this »»»
2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB of DDR2 667 memory
Integrated Intel GMA 950 Graphics
20x DVD+/-R Drive
4 USB Ports
250GB 7200RPM Drive
And, “Why spend $1999 to get the least expensive Apple computer with a decent video card when you can pay less than a fourth of that for an equivalent sleek and small form-factor desktop with the same hardware?” – asked Pystar, going on:
“Sometimes reinventing the wheel is a good thing. The Open Computer can work for new Mac users and Mac geniuses, alike.”
An affordable competitor to Apple’s overpriced products?
Not if Steve Jobs can help it.
“Buy it before Apple Legal kills it!” suggested Machines that go Bing.
Now, “Apple Inc. has sued Psystar Corp., the computer maker that in April started selling Intel-based systems with Mac OS X pre-installed, for copyright and software licensing violations, according to court records and a Florida attorney,” says the New York Times.
“Address Not Found” was the message on http://www.psystar.com/ at 5:33 am Pacific.
Jorge Espinosa, a Miami-based lawyer who specializes in intellectual property law, said Apple’s lawsuit, “charges Psystar with violating its shrink wrap license, as well as with trademark and copyright infringement,” says the story.
“Psystar has been manufacturing and selling a line of computers which sell pre-installed with Apple’s OSX operating system,” Espinosa noted in an entry to his blog today. “Apple’s shrink wrap license which comes with OSX specifically requires that the software be installed only on Apple branded computers.”
In April, “a Psystar worker was quoted by Informationweek as saying that the company thought the ban might not hold up to a legal challenge.” says the NYT, quoting a Pystar spokesman named Robert as asking »»»
What if Honda said that after you buy their car, you could only drive it on the roads they said you could?
Psystar was offering Mac-ready PCs, including desktop systems priced at $555 with Leopard pre-installed.
Then last month, it started selling knock-offs of Apple’s Xserve servers, pricing its version 12.5% under Apple’s list price, says the story, adding:
“It’s unclear what impact a win by Apple would have on Psystar’s current user base, but it would presumably stop Psystar from issuing updates to the tweaked version of Mac OS 10.5 it adds to its machines.”
.
.Stumble It!
set it out – Open Mac clone: for real or a scam?, April 19, 2008
asked Pystar – Mopping the floor with a Mac Mini, April 15, 2008
New York Times – Apple Sues Mac Clone Maker Psystar, July 15, 2008
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July 16th, 2008 at 7:00 am
If they just sold the hardware and a OS X install disk they would have been ok.
As they sell the software pre-installed they deliberately violated the agreement for each installation.
any one else notice the prystar is a itx specification and the mac mini is mini-itx specification. For $100 difference considering the cost of laptop vs full sized RAM, 3.5″ vs 2.5″ hard disks and the mac mini custom heat sinks the prystar may actually make more profit than the mac mini.
July 16th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
Really… They have a perfectly good reason to sue. If i were apple and i were to develop an OS better then anybody else’s, it better damn well be mine. If anybody else would want to use it, they better pay me. Simple as that. Microsoft would do the same thing. Jon, Your anti-apple views and anti-sony views are seriously killing this site for me. Please, for gods sake, stop it. You can post an article on this exact topic without wise cracks like “An affordable competitor to Apple’s overpriced products? Not if Steve Jobs can help it.” I understand that your views may be different then mine and i respect that, but isn’t the point of this site free speech for the users? You appear to have steered away from that and begun what is basically just an anti- site designed to change people into buying X-Box’s and Windows platforms.
This site has lost my interest now. It cant even be viewed on Playstation 3, Playstation Portable, Wii, or Cell Phone platforms whatsoever. You may want to fix that issue so that people can view your biased articles on the go.
Thanks.
July 17th, 2008 at 5:33 am
^^^^
An apple fanboy talking about bias…. its just too fricking funny I can’t stop giggling!
July 18th, 2008 at 8:26 am
” If anybody else would want to use it, they better pay me. ”
They did.
Read the article.
They were bought and paid for copies of OSX, used on one machine and sold to the
user that bought the machine.
Sounds perfectly legal.
If I buy a copy of OSX, you’re telling me that I can’t EVER sell it to anyone else ?
A company found a legal way to compete with apple, and compete damn well ( 1/4 of apples prices ).
Sounds like apple is using the color of the law to destroy a legal competitor.
I will never buy anything from Apple .. ever.
July 18th, 2008 at 8:28 am
” If they just sold the hardware and a OS X install disk they would have been ok.
As they sell the software pre-installed they deliberately violated the agreement for each installation. ”
Sadly enough you are correct.
This legal loophole bullshit must go if apple is to have any real competition.
Weren’t shrinkwrap agreements found to be unenforceable though ?