psystar posts

They're like cockroaches! Psystar is back yet again, this time filing yet another appeal against yet another injunction by Apple telling them that they can no longer sell their unauthorized OS X PCs. As previously reported, they've been on Apple's bad legal side for a long time, and the last injunction had them down to selling t-shirts. Now, they've got only one copy left of their Rebel EFI product, and it's in the hands of the lawyers trying to keep the case open. Just as they promised, they're filing one more appeal against the far-reaching injunction to try and keep the case open...

I'm as big a fan of Psystar as the next guy, and despite their complete and total losses in court, I almost want to see them keep going in a car-crash sort of way. But at this point, it's pointless -- Apple has won in every conceivable way, and Psystar is just wasting their own money and the courts' time by carrying on. It's their right to do so, of course, but this likely means that the next judge to look at the case will just lay the smack down that much harder.

[via Macworld]

Dear Psystar: just give it up already.

After updating their website this weekend announcing that they are voluntarily suspending the sale of their Rebel EFI software, Psystar has decided to take another business route – selling T-shirts.

Yes, for the bargain price of only $14.99 you can get your very own "I sued Psystar... and all I got was a lousy injunction" T-shirt. Oh yeah, you can also donate money to them in $20, $50, or $100 increments – you know, just because they deserve it and you have nothing better to do with your hard-earned cash.

Want a T-shirt? Considering Psystar has to cease business by year's end, you better get behind the other two guys in line who are waiting to snap these gems up.

Last night on the Talkcast, we talked about the big news last week that Psystar seemed to be down for the count, and the consensus was that we'd heard the last of them. But not so fast: their lawyer now says that they're not calling it quits just yet. The company that has gotten pummeled by Apple for selling Mac clones apparently "does not intend to shut down permanently," according to K. A. D. Camera of legal firm Camera & Sibley. According to him, they're still working on selling their Rebel EFI product (also currently entangled in legal problems), and they're planning on pushing forward on their antitrust case against Apple (which has already been thrown out once). We're not sure where they'll get the money for all of this legal action after already being ordered to give a couple million dollars to Apple, but maybe those 768 computers they sold made more than we thought.

There is one bright point in all of this: while Rebel EFI is still listed as out of stock on their website, they are selling official Psystar t-shirts for $15 which they say will also include a Rebel EFI authorization code later on and now those appear to be gone too! I don't know about you (and I don't really want to give these guys any credit card information), but one of those shirts would look great sitting under my tree later this week. If this whole installing-OS X-on-unauthorized-hardware-in-violation-of-Apple's-EULA thing doesn't work out for Psystar, maybe they can have a second life as a merch vendor.

After Apple's sweeping permanent injunction, Psystar has officially ceased operations. The company's CEO Rudy Pedraza told the Dow Jones Newswire last night that he is "shutting things down immediately." The company has also released its eight employees, and shuttered its website last night.

The actions came after Apple's permanent injunction against Psystar earlier this week, which gave Psystar until December 31st to stop selling its Mac clones. The clones violated Apple's End User License Agreement for Mac OS X, which expressly forbids use of the operating system on non-Apple hardware.

This also marks the end of Psystar's Rebel EFI software, which had been Psystar's only viable product since early December. Many Psystar watchers doubted if Psystar would continue to sell it.

Psystar first started selling its computers in April 2008, and Apple filed a lawsuit soon after in July 2008. The company was granted a motion against Psystar to stop selling its computers, preinstalled with Mac OS X, by Judge William Alsup in November. Psystar paid Apple a $2.7 million settlement earlier this month, which included $1,337,500 in copyright infringement damages.

[AppleInsider]

Update: The Psystar website appears to be back online at the moment, but isn't currently selling any Mac clones or any licenses to Rebel EFI, but Rebel EFI is listed as "Out of Stock."

What ride, eh? In what may have provided more blog fodder than a golfer hitting a tree, the end may have finally come for the storied life of Pystar's Mac clone business. AppleInsider, Gizmodo and The Loop are reporting U.S. District Judge William Alsup just put the smackdown on Psystar's selling of derivative works of OS X, doing anything to circumvent several things -- all of which wind up putting OS X on your non-Apple hardware. Still no ruling on the Rebel EFI software.

Bottom line: Psystar has until December 31, 2009 to stop selling Mac clones forever. Word is they have already started to comply.

It didn't take long, but it seems that sometime in the night, following their agreement with Apple, Psystar has mysteriously run out of stock on all of their Mac clones. Apparently their settlement with Apple on the order of $2,000,000USD has caused them to accept defeat. Given that they only sold 768 clones over the course of the past two years, I don't imagine the inability to sell their hardware will have much of an impact on their financial statements.

Down but not out, however, Psystar is still selling its Rebel EFI product which is used to circumvent OS X's EFI requirements for installation. In other words, it aims to make it dead simple to install Snow Leopard on any PC. Psystar's basis for continuing to sell Rebel EFI is that it was not included as part of the original case in San Francisco.

Even though another major chapter in the Apple v. Psystar battle has come to a close, it looks like Apple has some more work to do in Florida in order to stamp out the Rebel fires and finally squash this little bug of a company. Remember that Psystar is suing Apple in its native state Florida and in this case the issue of Rebel's legality/legitimacy is likely to come up.

Psystar may be circling the drain, but they're not done kicking yet.

Details are still sketchy, but apparently Apple and Psystar have reached partial settlement in the ongoing saga between the two companies. It appears that in return for paying Apple unspecified damages on its copyright claims (most of which were ruled in Apple's favor in a summary judgment motion last month), Apple will drop its remaining claims against Psystar, including those for trademark violation. Apple also agreed not to execute on those damages until all appeals have been exhausted.

A more detailed document is due to be filed later, but the idea is that the matters before the court will be reduced to only the issue of permanent injunction, a motion Apple filed last week. If the court accepts the terms of the settlement, there will be no need for a trial. Psystar appears to completely concede (though it's not like it had any further leg to stand on) copyright violation, by arguing that whatever the court decides to do with the permanent injunction barring sale of its computers with OS X pre-installed, that it not extend such an injunction to Psystar's Rebel EFI software product.

The Rebel EFI software product does not come with its own copy of Mac OS X or any particular hardware product, but permits installation of Mac OS X on an "unauthorized" computer. Apple's motion for permanent injunction specifically mentions the Rebel EFI product as evidence of Psystar's ongoing attempts to infringe and circumvent Apple's software restrictions. Of course, the Rebel EFI software is the subject of the ongoing Florida litigation, so certain elements are beginning to dovetail together. Apple, for its part, would like both lawsuits to come together.

My guess is that Apple is more interested in the outcome of the permanent injunction than damages. It's not even clear if Psystar could hope to pay Apple any significant money, since Psystar filed for bankruptcy last May, and recent information indicates that Psystar only has sales of 768 units thus far.

UPDATE: The filing is in and the stipulated damages are.....$2,675,000 against Psystar. [Via Engadget.] Half is on the merits of the legal claims, and the other half for punitive damages such as attorneys fees and costs. The parties are agreeing to enter judgment against Psystar on not only the copyright violation claims, but also with regard to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and Breach of Contract.

More and more information is coming out about Psystar and their legal issues with Apple. Some new documents have been leaked with some numbers and predictions from Psystar themselves.

According to these documents, the company planned on selling 1.45 million Mac clone computers by 2011. The actual number sold so far: 768. What's even better is that these numbers are their "conservative" estimates. If you take a look at their more aggressive numbers, Psystar plans to sell 12 million by the end of 2012. Yes, you read that correctly: 12 million.

With the legal issues still ramping up, we can only expect to see even more (comical) news coming from the failed Mac clone company. Psystar even has gone so far as to say the battle is only helping them, keeping other clone makers from entering the market to "avoid the mess."

[via Gizmodo]

We're back tonight after an unexpected week off due to a headcold, and we're diving into the Psystar summary judgment with Lauren to sort out the difference between a copyright, a EULA, and a bright shiny object. We'll be live at 10 pm ET, so call on in.

To participate on TalkShoe, you can use the browser-only client, or you can try out the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for maximum fun, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the "TalkShoe Web" button on our profile page at 10 pm Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VoIP lines (take advantange of your free cellphone weekend minutes if you like): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *-8.

If you've got a headset or microphone handy on your Mac, you can connect via the free Gizmo or X-Lite SIP clients; basic instructions are here. Talk with you then!

Dear Auntie Barrister TUAW,

I've been following your coverage of the Psystar case and I'm a little confused by the discussion on your last post. I've always thought the original case to be one of fact and an appellate case one of law. This, to me, would mean that in the appellate process they would not argue the case again at all. It would all be based on if the legal decision in the original case was rendered improperly.

So all the sturm and drang would be gone, No?

With love & kisses,

David

Read on for Barrister TUAW, esq's response

Yesterday, Judge William Alsup, United States District Judge for the Northern District of California, dealt Psystar a crushing blow in its ongoing litigation with Apple over whether or not Psystar could market and sell non-Apple computers running modified copies of Apple's operating system. If you're not familiar with the circus case, I refer you to, well...grab a coffee and click here. The two companies, embroiled in litigation since early last year, recently completed pre-trial discovery and each filed cross motions for summary judgment.

Judge Alsup put the ultimate hurt on Psystar when it granted Apple's motion for summary judgment and denied Psystar's motion for the same. In a sweeping order (courtesy Groklaw), the court agreed with Apple's take on the case and dismissed all of Psystar's defenses, both on the merits and for having waived and failed to properly plead.

The end result was a dramatic and startling court order in an ongoing series of dramatic legal squabbles between the two companies. And at least one of Psystar's attorneys saw this coming. The litigation doesn't end here; various issues still remain for trial such as breach of contract and trademark infringement, but Psystar has been gutted. The court is clearly unsympathetic to Psystar's core position and while damages on the copyright issues falling in Apple's favor in the order have not been ruled upon, it would probably behoove Psystar to start looking under the couch cushions for spare change.

A hearing is scheduled for December 14 on the remaining issues and for damages.

Read on for a more detailed analysis of the court's order....

Say what you will about Psystar, the community that continues to sell computers running OS X, despite bankruptcy, constant legal problems with Apple, and a case so slim even their own legal team gave up. Sure, they're out of reason, out of room, and way out of line, but at least they've got plenty of cojones, as the locals say.

Why else would they say the things they do in this Miami Times article? Our friends at Engadget lay out just what's wrong with that piece, from Robert and Rudy's Pedraza's claims that they "cracked the code" behind OS X, to the suggestions and hints that what they're doing just might not be a contract violation. Whether or not Apple's EULA is enforceable is, of course, one of the arguments at issue in Psystar's case, even though plenty of shrinkwrap licenses have been upheld in court before. Apple's also got a copyright infringement claim against Psystar; this will be one of the topics at today's summary judgement hearing in California.

But the kicker in all this is the statement that Rudy Pedraza makes about the famed Hackintosh scene -- a community of people who persist in running OS X on hardware and devices that it wasn't supposed to run on (not nearly as much of a problem to Apple, as they don't sell the capability like Psystar does, but still not technically allowed by the license agreement). Surely, you might think, this is where the Pedrazas could find friends; surely, despite all of the commotion they're causing, this is the place where they could find a kind ear and a helping hand. Nope. From the article: "The first thing you have to do is unlearn everything you've read online about how to make this work," Rudy says, "because it's all wrong."

Nice. Way to alienate the one group, the one community that might still support your cause. I wish Psystar the best of luck -- not, mind you, because I need to buy or run any of their machines (I buy Apple because I appreciate both the hardware and the software), but just because their story continues to be so darn entertaining.

Psystar, that pesky little thorn in Apple's side, has released Rebel EFI. According to Psystar, the app, available for $49.99 through the company's site, "allows for the easy installation of multiple operating systems," including Mac OS X, on a vanilla PC. Besides bypassing EFI requirements, Rebel EFI can also detect for Mac OS X compatible and incompatible hardware, and automatically download appropriate drivers. Skeptical? No worries: the app is free to try (as an ISO download), with a two hour time limit.

To each their own, and if running Mac OS X on non-Apple specified hardware floats your boat, then you should also be aware of the risks involved. In other words, back up your data if you are attempting such a thing. Second, and more importantly, there's the issue of licensing: Apple prohibits the installation of Mac OS X on non Apple-branded machines.

Psystar giveth and Psystar must also taketh. One wonders how Psystar will react when people illegally use Rebel EFI, just like Psystar is allegedly misusing Mac OS X, as pirated versions inevitably circulate around the Interwebs.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in.

[via The Loop]

Apple and Psystar have been embroiled in litigation for quite a while now. At the core of the dispute: Psystar modifies Apple's operating system software so that it can run on its clone machines. It then sells its computers with Mac OS installed to, well, anybody who wants one. As you can imagine, this does not make Apple happy.

Anybody familiar with The Great Clone Crackdown of 1997 will tell you that Apple likes to keep a very tight grip on any device that presumes to run its software. Apple points out that Windows machines are a mishmash of often conflicting hardware and suffer from quirks and errors and incompatibilities that such a set up can bring.

So Apple's cadre of lawyers descended quickly on Psystar. In July of last year, the company sued Psystar for copyright and software licensing violations, quickly amending its lawsuit to additionally charge Psystar with violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

And there was much lawyering.

More than a year later, now that discovery has been completed, the two parties have each filed for summary judgment, which, in effect, asks the judge to rule in favor of the filing party because enough evidence has been shown that either makes or breaks the lawsuit.

Psystar's argument, and the one covered in its motion, somewhat relies on the "first sale doctrine" which says that any purchaser of a copyrighted product can then take that lawfully-made copy and sell it, so long as no additional copies can be made. For its part, Apple says that when one "purchases" its OS, you are only purchasing a license to use the product. Its Software Licensing Agreement (SLA) quite clearly states [PDF link to Snow Leopard SLA] that the user cannot modify the software to run on a non-Apple system.

The idea that what you are purchasing is a license to use the product is pretty commonplace among software manufacturers, because, the argument runs, you can cut any software company's profits off at the knees if every purchaser became an owner with free rein to redistribute the software. Apple states that no software company in its right mind would put the money into research and development of any software product at all if that were the end result of bringing its product to market. Groklaw suggests this could have ramifications for FOSS and and the GPL.

Legal issues? What legal issues?

Psystar has announced that it plans to license its virtualization technology for OS X to third-party vendors despite its continuing legal issues with Apple. The Psystar OEM Licensing Program, designed to allow Intel machines to run Snow Leopard -- actually, certified machines from Psystar running the company's Darwin Universal Boot Loader -- can support up to six operating systems at a time in a single piece of hardware.

"Once a product is certified, consumers can purchase it off the shelf or through standard channels and when labeled Psystar Certified would allow the installation of Snow Leopard simply by inserting the retail OS X DVD," Psystar said in a press release issued today.

The cost of this licensing program is not available at this time.

Apple and Psystar go to trial in January 2010.

[MacDailyNews via Apple Insider]