

Psystar Wins Legal Ruling Against Apple: Can Argue Apple is Overextending Copyright Law - mdasen
http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9127579&intsrc=hm_list

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dhughes
I say best of luck to Psystar, I hope they win, I may never buy an Apple or
Psystar Apple computer (can they call it an Apple computer? ...OS X PC?) I
still think a company that builds a system with the real OS X operating
system, not a pirated copy, is certainly doing nothing wrong.

If Microsoft made/controlled distribution of all the computer hardware in a PC
and prevented anyone else from making a PC people would be mad as hell!

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Zev
Except, AFAIK, pystar machines _dont_ come with "real" OS X. They require
either A. OS X to be hacked to run on the machines (aka: your pirated copy) or
B. Nonstandard hardware specifically designed to emulate things that PC's cant
run.

The latter is much much more of a grey area then the former. However, I
_think_ pystar does the former. I remember reading awhile ago that pystar
shipped with a legit copy of OS X but a hacked copy installed, so if anyone
wanted to reinstall, they would have to send it back and pay $50.

~~~
Haskell
> They require either A. OS X to be hacked to run on the machines (aka: your
> pirated copy)

Hacked != Pirated.

I am planning to use a hacked MacOS X for IPhone development and I will buy
the OS. That's fine, I can pay for the software.

I simply can't afford their overpriced desktop hardware. (The iPhone is
reasonably cheap compared to their desktops).

Edit: I don't know why this has been down voted. Maybe I should say that what
adds to Apple's desktops cost, besides their premium for the brand, is the
importation tax for items over $500 here. As high as 60%. With this tax, I can
simply buy the software and assembly the hardware from commodity parts myself.

~~~
Zev
Theres an overwhelmingly large majority of the people who dont know enough in
order to to hack os x and instead pirate a hacked copy. But hey, if you do
know enough to hack it, kudos to you.

Though if you're going by the "I bought a legit copy. I should be able to
download it in modified forms if I want to" argument, then thats grayer then I
would like. Especially if I'm developing for a platform that's controlled by
the company that I'm pirating from.

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gabrielroth
This is a tiny procedural ruling. It's extremely unlikely that Psystar will
win the right to sell OSX on non-Apple hardware against Apple's wishes.

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theklub
If Psystar actually wins this it could be a huge loss for Apple. Think about
the Mac OS showing up in Walmart on discount machines. Then again they might
also sell more OS licenses.

~~~
omouse
_sigh_ In the past, Apple allowed other companies to license the OS and sell
it on different hardware. The only reason this stopped was because Steve Jobs
forced the renaming of a particular version of the OS so that the contract
would no longer apply (it covered version X.Y, they changed it to X.Z)

Also, what's wrong with seeing Mac OS X in Walmart on discount machines?

~~~
theklub
I'm not saying there is anything wrong with it. I think it would be good for
apple in fact. They are missing a huge market segment.

~~~
ja2ke
Apple has deliberately ignored that potential "huge market segment" for years,
to great success. Their brand, at least in the eyes of regular consumers, is
probably perceived as a bit overpriced, but you know you are paying for a
singular solid quality experience. The opposite is true of Windows and PCs,
where I think generally (at least using my parents as a barometer) the feeling
is that you're taking a bit of a gamble.

Allowing 3rd parties to build licensed OS X machines would do little for Apple
but destabilize their platform, which is currently built on the premise that
100% of the package from the pre-installed apps to the OS to the casing to
every component inside is vetted and tested to work well together by Apple's
army of genius proto-wizards "in beautiful California."

That would be utterly destroyed the moment people could buy a 3rd party
computer which pops up the "Mac OS X" logo on boot, and then immediately asks
the user if they want to install the AOL trial, Google toolbar, Yahoo toolbar,
and Dan's Discount Video Editor EX Lite Edition (Upgrade today!).

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eli
This is pretty weak, as far as "legal wins" go. They merely won the right _to
argue_ that Apple is abusing copyright (rather than arguing they are an
illegal monopoly because that argument was already shot down).

~~~
ROFISH
Even then, if Psystar wins the right to use legally use OS X on their
hardware, doesn't Apple have the right to refuse to sell OS X to OEMs, which
is what I think the crux of the argument is, not the copyright/monopoly thing.

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cschep
Is there any way that this little company will ever be more than just a pain
in Apple's side? They can't deliver an experience like Apple. Maybe they'll
open some notApple Stores.

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jcl
As I recall, they were doing pretty well, aside from the court case. There
seems to be a demand for a generic machine running OSX even if it doesn't
"deliver an experience like Apple".

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lpgauth
They can't win...

All Apple computer ship with a TPM chip and I'm pretty sure they could verify
hardware with it...

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GHFigs
Current Apple models lack a TPM, and those that did have them never used them
for anything. To check a machine: # ioreg -x | grep TPM

~~~
lpgauth

        | +-o TPM  <class IOACPIPlatformDevice, registered, matched, active, busy 0, retain 6>
    

I know they don't use them but they can implement it in the next version they
ship...

~~~
GHFigs
Nonsensical. Apple won't ship an OS that won't run on the computers they sell.

