Psystar's attorneys have had some truly
bumbling moments in the past year or so, and the hits keep coming: now they're disagreeing over whether or not the would-be Mac cloner is out of business. Lead law firm Camara & Sibley is now denying
yesterday's Dow Jones report, which quoted Psystar's California counsel Eugene Action as saying the company would be shutting down "immediately," and insists that the company is still is business selling Rebel EFI. That would be the end of the story for now... except it's not true. Although Psystar's site still offers the software for download, it's listed as "out of stock," and you can't buy a license. What's more, Psystar was just
ordered by the California court to stop helping anyone install OS X and warned that it continued to sell Rebel EFI "at its peril," so it'd be pretty ballsy to offer it for sale once again. Camara & Sibley also says it's going to appeal the California decision while it presses forward with the second lawsuit in Florida, but we've seriously got to wonder who's going to pay all these bills -- Psystar is already
on the hook for $2.67 million in fines to Apple, and appeals and a second round of litigation don't come cheap. We'll see what happens next, but we can't say we're too surprised that the end of Psystar's story is as shady as its start.
P.S.- Eugene Action might be the single best thing to come out of this whole mess -- his website, located at (seriously)
myharvardlawyer.us, is a treasure trove of embarrassing hilarity. Choice unedited quote:
I Graduated from Harvard Law School in Cambridge Massachusetts. If you have not heard of Harvard Law school, welcome to planet earth and enjoy your visit.
Well, we're certainly impressed -- too bad that fancy degree didn't help Psystar win its case, though.
posted December 19th 2009 5:44PM
They just don't know when to quit do they?
@Steve Jobs
Leave them alone! Please?
@Steve Jobs
You should go suck an egg.
A Penguin Egg!
@Steve Jobs
whats your number steve ma boi!
Bill, if that's you still on the PC with Steve, someone's not getting Chicken Teriyaki tonight.
@Steve Jobs nor do I
@Steve Jobs
Can't you just release OSX into the wild and let it be free?
I'll stop hacking itunes if you do.. honest...
@Steve Jobs
Well, worth a shot...
Poor Psystar, ah well, back to Apple rip off prices...
@(Unverified)
I have to question if you are one of the 700(ish) people who actually bought from Psystar...seems unlikely
(You could still build your own)
Shame his fancy degree couldn't buy him a decent website.
Eugene Action?
They'd have been better off hiring Harvey Birdman.
Agreed, at least they would have had a lawyer capable of jumbling a case fantastically while using proper grammar. For a Harvard Alum, that site is rife with errors...
You know what Eugene has trouble getting?
Ha ha, this guys website is hilarious, my choice quote -
"When your life, family, and business are at stake, I am what you need. I am more than an attorney, I am a personal service attorney."
Particularly funny to anyone from the UK who has seen the "this is not just food, this is M+S food" ads for Marks and Sparks.
What a joker.
@DylanUK
so by personal service attorney..he mean that he will not only screw you in the wallet...he will screw you anywhere else too....for a fee
My favorite is "(559) 283-9772 Get Action now!"
sounds like one of those late night commercials....
@brokensticks if only it were as easy as calling that number...
Didn't we closed this file a few hours ago...? i hate zombie companies.
The only way to deal with people like this is to kidnap family members...
failing that just show up to the place with guns a blazin...
Anyone wlse want to copy us?
ahahh!
Pretty comical website.
Fix the spelling though (what's an awyer?)
any lawyer with a paypal "Pay Now" button on his website should never be hired.
I like the Paypal link at the bottom. I think I'll send him $0.04 to help better the layout of the page.
Sounds like the author isn't a fan of Psystar. Perhaps he's not noticing that they are only trying to do do Apple what all those other companies did to IBM so long ago. The only difference is there is in this case the OS is a blood relation of the hardware (instead of being licensed from MS like IBM's was).
If you've ever used any "PC"/"IBM Compatible" other than IBM then you've supported cloning companies just like Psystar.
A healthy Psystar would be bad for Apple, great for consumers.
@grobbo thats what I've been saying all along. But even in the long-term, I don't see how it would be bad for Apple as they're still licensing OSX and Microsoft has shown there is plenty of money to be had there even with minimal hardware sales.
Besides, they'd have a competitive advantage on Mac clones since they're getting the operating system at cost, and know future features in advance of other vendors. The only thing that would change is the crazy Apple-tax markup fees they charge on their hardware.
But for consumers you get:
1) More hardware choices
2) Lower costs for clones and Apple hardware (since they'd have to lower their profit margins to be competitive)
3) Increased third party support since it would likely increase OSX adoption. =)
@grobbo Sounds like you're a Psystar fanboy/Apple hater. Perhaps you're not noticing that people have been able to install OS X on hackintoshes thanks to OSx86 project, and Apple has been quiet for all those years. Now greedy Psystar tried to open the can of worms, forcing Apple to take actions, putting OSx86 at greater risk.
A healthy Psystar is only good for Apple haters like you, bad for consumers and the OSx86 project.
@pika2000 Your mom would not be able to get OSX working on a non Apple computer, thats the difference. Psystar was simply selling a service, installing a working copy of OSX on a well featured and far more affordable box they assembled.
@grobbo I'm not a fan of Psystar, but I do support the OSx86 scene wholeheartedly. Amateur hacking is one thing, building a business around copyright infringement and code stolen from others is another.
@Nilay Patel Stolen code? You mean like how OSX is based off a free community effort? o.O
The OSX kernel was taken from BSD, the compiler taken from GCC, the authentication taken from Kerberos, encryption taken from OpenSSH, directory service is OpenLDAP, CUPS print spooler and Gimp-Print drivers, Apache webserver and so on.
Apple has made money off a lot of other people's code.
And I assume Psystar paid for a license of OSX for each machine sold, which if true, sounds like they are simply selling a service (putting together a machine for you and installing a working copy of OSX as a turn key solution). If not, well then that's no different from selling Windows with illegal unpaid for copies of the OS.
@Ducman69
Thank you!
The bias in this article is just unbelievable.
@grobbo
Perhaps you haven't noticed that IBM is nowhere to be seen in the PC market. They're totally dead and they don't do cool software or hardware. So why the hell would Apple want that? Apple already had a clone program and they killed it.
@Wesscoast Lenovo bought them IIRC, but they still make software and server stuff, but you are correct in that they become mostly irrelevant in the hardware arena.
Absolutely nothing could have been better from a consumer standpoint though.
It caused fierce competition to excel and standout and keep prices down, which has continued on to what then became the Wintel marketplace, which even Macs of today are based on (there is no more different hardware wise between a Macbook and a Vaio than there is between the Vaio and a Thinkpad.
Competition improves the breed, and likewise Microsoft could really use some direct competition as an operating system, which Psystar was helping make happen.
@pika2000 2 sides to every story. Try shifting your paradigm instead of labeling him an "Apple Hater". I don't even think he gave hint of being an "Apple Hater".
@Atkins You're not making any sense. Yes, Psystar was making money off a free open community effort just like Apple is making money off several free open community efforts that form the entire foundation of OSX.
Psystar was offering a service of assembling computers from parts and AFAIK installing a purchased legal copy of OSX on them for customers, so they don't have to. Its a turn-key solution, as not everyone has the skills to make their own hakintosh.
The legal beef with this is that they were installing OSX on non Apple-branded computers, and the modification required to OSX to make this possible is protected by the DMCA.
This is not only bad for consumers from a practical standpoint, but for the precedent that it sets beyond Apple and Psystar. You're short sighted or a blinded Apple loyalist if you can't see this.
@Ducman69 Apple takes community code licensed under free / open source licenses and uses that code under the terms of those licenses. If they didn't, they would get sued.
Psystar ripped their code off OSx86 hackers and sold it as Rebel EFI, contrary to the wishes -- and, in some cases, the license agreements -- of the various coders involved.
It's not a subtle difference, my man.
@N900 I'm just talking at the level of grobbo's comment, that's all. He's the one that start labeling people as either a fan/not a fan.
@Ducman69 What does this have anything to do with anybody's mom? Really? Are you, what, twelve? The person you're referring to would not even know about Psystar, and would simply go to a local Apple store and bought a Mac. The only ones wanting OS X, or even know about OS X vs Windows, on a custom PC are the geeks.
"Mostly, Feel Free to Call
Call me and we'll talk about your case. You will be glad you did. Sure I went to Harvard but I am a down-to-earth, friendly guy (friendly with Clients, an aggressive defense), that really likes to help people. My Fresno number is (559) 283-9772 and my Oakhurst number is (559) 642-2761."
and
"I Graduated from Harvard Law School in Cambridge Massachusetts. If you have not heard of Harvard Law school, welcome to planet earth and enjoy your visit."
seem to be at odds with each other. Well, at least they didn't get Barry Zuckercorn or Bob Loblaw. Now THAT would have been disastrous.
@Nilay Patel
They were trying to build a business on hardware cloning and reselling paid for copies of OSX (Right of First Sale, in the US). It only became copyright infringement because a court said a technicality made it so.
As for stealing code; that's something they didn't do.
@pika2000
Boo hoo. I said something that wasn't in support of Apple so I'm an Apple hater? On the contrary, I'd like to see Apple thrive, but alongside and in competition with Psystar.
Not sure how you see a tiny company with around 10 employees as "greedy".
A healthy Psystar would be great for consumers. Competition always is, in all markets. You ever bought a computer without an Apple or IBM/Lenovo label?
@Wesscoast
Lenovo.
Of course Apple doesn't like Psystar, and who can blame them? They are a business, and less competition means higher profits. If I were Apple I would try to crush Psystar like a bug too. But I'm not Apple, I'm a consumer, so I'd love to see a healthy Pystar competing with Apple.
@Atkins
Actually, Psystar paid for every copy of OSX that it used/made.
Ruling that those copies (each and every one paid for) infringed copyright because they were physically copied from a single master copy is ridiculous.
So they stole nothing, they paid for everything they used.
If Psystar sells it cheaper, Apple will sell it cheaper. It will reduce their already very healthy profit margin. It certainly wouldn't kill them.
The precedent is already set. Ever used a non-Apple machine with any label other than IBM/Lenovo? Then you've used machines from cloning companies just like Psystar. Only difference in the result came from the fact that Psystar had to contend with the fact that Apple used their own OS.
@grobbo You don't need to lecture me on first sale -- I used to be a copyright lawyer, after all.
That said, Psystar's first sale arguments were completely rejected. Apple's major claim was copyright infringement per se, and it won going away. You are simply not allowed to take a copyrighted work, modify it, and re-sell it without authorization, and that's never been in question. I've provided pdfs of each and every one of these judgments over the past several posts, they're fascinating reading if you're this interested in the topic.
@grobbo - That is what I understood as well, making the only real case being one only a lawyer would get excited about; violation of EULA (that the OSx86 team is also "guilty" of) and reference to the anti-consumer DMCA that sets a bad precedent for all of us. =/
@Ducman69 Read what I wrote, homey -- Apple's main claim was pure, simple copyright infringement, and it won decisively. The EULA claim wasn't even fully litigated, and Apple and Psystar agreed to dismiss it, since Psystar had already lost the copyright claim.
@nilay the text for the link is "myharvardawyer.us" when it should be "myharvardlawyer.us". it's missing the "L"
Like Thelma and Louise, if you're going to go down, why not go down in spectacular fashion?
Who really cares if those fines stick; Psystar is a corporation whose liabilities don't extend to their founders/employees. Your investors already know the end is near and they're not getting their money back.
@gerrrg
Exactly. You can say what you want about Psystar, but they do have style. I actually think they knew about the hole in the law from the start and just wanted to see how far they could get with taking on Apple.
That they hired a comedy firm only to stretch the whole thing only makes me love them more.
They came, they saw and they kicked up a hell of a lot of dust.
*Now where can I get my t-shirt with their logo.
(On a side note: Long time Apple user, no fanboy of any sort)
If a Yale grad handled this case, we would all be using hackintosh!
Not really.