Remember Psystar? The small company used to put together computers running OS X to then sell on the cheap. Apple won a permanent injunction against Psystar back in 2009 that prohibited the company from selling any unauthorized computers running OS X.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirms that Psystar did indeed violate Apple’s Mac OS X copyrights, and that the ban on sales will be upheld.
Cnet reports:
“Circuit Judge Mary Schroeder ruled yesterday that Psystar’s Mac clones violated copyrights Apple holds, and the ban on sales will be upheld. According to Schroeder, Psystar specifically violated copyrights Apple holds in Mac OS X, and said that the U.S. District Court’s ruling in favor of Apple was just.”
Psystar became famous years ago for its “OpenMac” computers that were essentially PCs running modified versions of Mac OS X. The benefit of buying from Psystar was that customers could get powerful hardware running OS X for a fraction of Apple’s retail price.
After Apple sued Psystar, the courts ruled that the company violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Psystar was a pretty small company, and it was an uphill battle against Apple’s world class legal team from the very beginning.
The court deciding to uphold the ban doesn’t bode well for Pystar. The company’s days are clearly numbered.
Alex Heath is a journalist who works for Tech Insider. He’s the former co-host of The CultCast. He has been quoted by the likes of the BBC, KRON 4 News, and books like “ICONIC: A Photographic Tribute to Apple Innovation.” He lives in Lexington, Kentucky. If you want to pitch a story, share a tip, or just get in touch, additional contact information is available on his personal site. Follow him on Twitter.
20 responses to “Mac Cloner Psystar Loses Appeal in Court, Apple the Victor [Report]”
A good friend of mine, being a cheapskate that he is, bought one of these “powerful hardware” (as you call them) Pystar boxes in spite of my warnings. Three weeks after receiving it the power supply blew up, 7 weeks later the video card stopped working….returning the computer for a full refund was like asking a McDonalds counter person to add up your bill in their head. Goodby to Pystar, a scam that might have worked if not for the due diligence of Apple’s legal team.
one of the reasons why I’m going back to pc after a mac.
macs are great computers. Problem is, you’re paying an arm and a leg for one. And depending what you get, it’s all midrange componets.
my next computer will most likely be a custom built pc. Why? I can build a far superior machine than what apple can make, for far less than apple want to charge for it.
that being said, if OS X was sold where it could be put onto any machine, most likely, it would run OS X. But since apple won’t play that game, it will be windows powered.
I know a lot of people who are in the same boat. They think that OS X is great, but the computers are overpriced or underpowered or both.
again, one of the reasons why I’m picking up a windows powered laptop. I found one that is EQUAL to a MBP that costs twice as much. Hardware is identical, if not better with the pc, build quality is equal, battery life is equal, might be better with the pc. Basically I see no point spending twice as much for a MBP, which the only thing it had was a flashy apple logo.
one thing that “hackentoshes” (totally did not spell that correctly) did, was give people the ability to have OS X, but not spend an arm and a leg on getting a computer or the ability to have a far more powerful computer running OS X than apple can provide you with, or even both. And I know plenty of people, that if they had this option, most likely they would have OS X powered machine, but since that option is not here anymore, they are running a windows powered machine. Mac’s are good computers, but they are not designed for everyone. Hence why psystar and similar were born. Because it gave people an OS X option that apple never offered.
The title erroneously states the appeal was denied. The appeal was lost, not denied. For an appeal to be denied means the court would not allow them to even appeal, much less lose that appeal.
I love my hackintosh ;)
Thanks for the clarification, Gary. I’ll fix the headline. I guess I need to freshen up on my legal jargon! :)
You do know that you can run OS X on off the shelf hardware correct?
Ok, go buy a Windows PC then. Macs may not be for everyone.
So you’re saying, people that work at McDonalds’ are stupid? I happen to know a few very bright people that worked at their local McD’s while attending college… Two now work at Google, 1 works for Apple and the other was just hired at Pixar.
I bet you feel pretty “dumb” now, huh?
I highly doubt they did go on to work there. You lying internet troll.
Cleaning the toilets for the real programmers…