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Print E-mail del.icio.us 134 comment(s) - last by Aloonatic.. on Jul 23 at 7:17 AM

Apple shows it will have no mercy for Mac clones

When Florida-based Psystar, a small startup, announced that it was going to make Mac clones for dirt cheap, many rolled their eyes -- they'd heard that line before. During Gil Amelio's tenure at Apple, clones were briefly allowed, but when Steve Jobs returned to the company he carried out a campaign to purge the market of every last clone.

So when Psystar announced a $399 Mac with strong specs comparable to a $949 Mac Mini desktop, many figured the end was near for the company. These thoughts were put on hold about whether Psystar would deliver, as some found a handful of evidence to indicate the company might be a farce. However, Psystar proved itself to be real, shipping units to reviewers. It also unveiled a small server lineup to compete with Apple's niche offerings in the server market.

During the time when the initial news of Psystar and its rebellion again Apple's death grip on its hardware surfaced, there were many reports of legal threats from Apple, but the company remained quiet.

Not anymore.  With Steve Jobs manning the helm, Apple filed suit against Psystar looking to destroy it as it has destroyed many which came before.  The suit was filed
July 3 in federal district court of northern California.

Apple accuses Psystar of violations on shrink wrap license, trademarks, and copyright infringement.  Much of this revolves around the fact that Psystar will preinstall OS X for you; a move which legal analysts said would put it in peril.

Details of the complaint are finally emerging.  In it, Apple tries to paint itself as simply fed up about missing components on the computers, allegations that Psystar was trying to promote itself as an Apple product, and claims that it was concerned about Psystar's quality control.

Psystar managed to slither along in past months despite some struggles.  Its credit card service cancelled its services when it found out what Psystar was dealing.  This left Psystar with no way of tracking the numerous orders it had received and sent, thanks to a combination of poor preparation on the company's part and false confidence in the credit system.

However, it looks like the twilight hour for Psystar is drawing near -- Steve Jobs and his company don't tolerate clones.



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Please Apple
By FITCamaro on 7/16/2008 9:52:27 AM , Rating: 5
quote:
In it, Apple tries to paint itself as simply fed up about missing components on the computers, allegations that Psystar was trying to promote itself as an Apple product, and claims that it was concerned about Psystar's quality control.


We're not all as stupid as the people who buy your crap.

You want your OS on your hardware and you alone to sell it. Clones threaten to make people question your pricing since they can be offered at half or less than half the cost of your hardware. Just without the pretty case.




RE: Please Apple
By JasonMick (blog) on 7/16/2008 10:00:14 AM , Rating: 3
APPLE: Don't lecture me, Obi-Wan. I see through the lies of the Jedi. I do not fear the dark side as you do. I have brought peace, justice, freedom, and security to my new Empire.


RE: Please Apple
By FITCamaro on 7/16/2008 10:10:32 AM , Rating: 3
*waits for Master Kenobi's response* :)


RE: Please Apple
By RallyMaster on 7/16/2008 11:08:48 AM , Rating: 3
Your new empire?! Anakin, my allegiance is to the Republic! To democracy!


RE: Please Apple
By vdig on 7/16/2008 11:17:38 AM , Rating: 4
What's with all the new trilogy quotes? It pales in comparison to the original trilogy, no matter what the franchise killers would like you to think.

"If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine."


RE: Please Apple
By therealnickdanger on 7/16/2008 11:44:00 AM , Rating: 2
Well, if Apple strikes down Psystar, they probably will not become more powerful... so as epic as that quote is, it really doesn't work here.

When in Rome.


RE: Please Apple
By DM0407 on 7/16/2008 12:18:15 PM , Rating: 2
What is stopping this company from changing their name, offering the same hardware, but making the user buy and install the software themselves... Sure it creates one more step in using a computer (god forbid Mac user's learn how to install an OS). But wouldn't that make them a legit company?

It seems that Jobs' only legal ground is that they are installing software on a clone. Let the user break the User agreement and then Apple would have to go after each individual consumer.


RE: Please Apple
By Scott66 on 7/16/2008 12:25:11 PM , Rating: 2
Mac users install operating systems everytime there is a new .1. Since XP came out I have installed 4 different Mac OS's. I have also reinstalled my XP many times so I could prevent the usual bloat crawl that happens to Windows over time.


RE: Please Apple
By Samus on 7/17/2008 1:16:49 AM , Rating: 2
i've had the same xp installation running on this very computer for 4 years. i can't say its ideal or clean, but it performs fine and is still stable. the only things that come to mind as being screwy are my codecs


RE: Please Apple
By misuspita on 7/17/2008 5:50:28 AM , Rating: 2
Since I've discovered Acronis, I've never looked back to reinstalling of Windows or programs. One solid back-up made 1.5 years ago and, whenever I feel the system is shakey boom! in 15 minutes is back, minus 3-4 programs I changed since than.


RE: Please Apple
By 4wardtristan on 7/19/2008 10:57:43 PM , Rating: 2
and without sp3/100+ windows updates :) theres another hour to your time!!


RE: Please Apple
By kelmon on 7/17/2008 3:34:35 AM , Rating: 2
Question: who would buy a computer where you need to install the OS yourself? If I buy a computer then I expect all the work necessary to run it to have been done by the supplier otherwise I might as well just build the thing myself. The idea of buying a "Mac" from Psystar where they provide the support is already unappealing for numerous reasons and adding this extra step wouldn't help matters. However, I would agree that not installing the OS on the computer probably would circumvent the EULA issues that Psystar are currently getting whacked with. It's just that if they don't install the OS, do they still have a business?

Finally, I will note that my old G4 PowerBook needed to have the OS installed when it arrived, which appeared to be normal practice. When started up for the first time the computer would display an image showing which CD needed to be inserted and it would then install the OS. Given this I was expected the same from my MacBook Pro but Tiger was already installed on that so the practice of installing the OS first appears to have gone. Anyway, the moral of this story is that you should know what you are talking about before throwing out comments like "god forbid Mac user's learn how to install an OS" and stop making assumptions.


RE: Please Apple
By vdig on 7/16/2008 12:44:59 PM , Rating: 4
The way I saw it, I figure if Apple feels the need to quash Psystar, that means that Apple felt them to be a legitimate threat. While Psystar could very well be struck down, where Psystar IS Obiwan in my scenario, who's to say an up and coming Jedi imbued with this Obiwan's lessons would become a new thorn in Apple's empire?

Obiwan the force ghost does not have a rematch with Vader either, therealnickdanger. He is dead.

... Pottergate.


RE: Please Apple
By MADAOO7 on 7/16/2008 3:22:33 PM , Rating: 3
You don't have to be a legitimate threat in order to be squashed. It's in the best interest of a company to be proactive rather than reactive. You gotta put on bug repellent before you go outside, not after you start getting bit.


RE: Please Apple
By theslug on 7/16/2008 2:33:37 PM , Rating: 3
If a quote from the newer trilogy applies to the situation better, who is to say someone shouldn't quote it?


RE: Please Apple
By jonmcc33 on 7/16/2008 11:18:59 PM , Rating: 1
OMG! Jason Mick somewhat replies in his own blog!

Hey Jason, how do you feel about the bug fixes with the new 10.5.4 release: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1994

I didn't know that Macs were so buggy! I thought they "just worked"? Apparently it's all just a lie by Apple and their fanatics (like you).


RE: Please Apple
By theapparition on 7/16/2008 10:03:45 AM , Rating: 4
What's the big deal?

Anyone can build thier own "hackentosh" now anyway. Psystar's only problem was pre-installing OSX. They should have provided instructions and let the user take the burdon for license violations.

BTW,
I'm not impressed with OSX.....at all.


RE: Please Apple
By marvdmartian on 7/16/2008 10:12:47 AM , Rating: 3
Maybe Psystar should've named their model "the Hac", eh? They might've even done a commercial or two, with a Justin Long clone! LOL

Seriously, as long as they can't prove the allegation of the "appearance of an Apple", and as long as Psystar didn't break the EULA for OSX, I doubt there's much that Apple can do, unless they just refuse to sell them copies of their operating system.

Like was said already, Psystar would've been much better to sell their systems bare, with instructions on how to make the OSX work on it. They could have marketed it as "OSX ready", and there really isn't anything that Apple could've done about it.