Psystar still in business, or not in business, or... something

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.

[epic Posted Dec 19th 2009 7:29PM]

@ethana2

I didn't realize ubuntu isn't a centered logo until I saw your sig.

[Wesscoast Posted Dec 19th 2009 9:42PM]

@epic

via Google Translate

"I'm epically cheap."

[ethana2 Posted Dec 19th 2009 6:56PM]

Free Rebel EFI. You can't sell it anymore, so why not use it to give Apple one screaming kick in the pants?

[dmgabe Posted Dec 19th 2009 8:54PM]

@ethana2

Even giving away Rebel EFI for free would be in violation of the court order. From the ruling:
"2. Intentionally inducing, aiding, assisting, abetting, or encouraging any other person or entity to infringe plaintiff's copyrighted Mac OS X software."

They are screwed. I think the only reason they intend to continue this legal battle is to burn through their capital. Hoping to be able to prevent any payment to Apple.

[ethana2 Posted Dec 19th 2009 9:05PM]

Dissolve the company, then release the source code. You think Apple is going to sue them all, individually, out of house and home for a little source leak? They're trying to seem less evil, removing DRM from iTunes and whatnot, and that wouldn't exactly be a step forward.

[dantzig Posted Dec 19th 2009 11:17PM]

@Atkins
well no one exactly rejoiced when they bought lala recently. there's a tinge of evil, yes.

[benjybaruch Posted Dec 19th 2009 6:58PM]

lol at the bottom: "Get Action"
if only it were as easy as calling a number...

[bri3d Posted Dec 19th 2009 7:01PM]

"This new battle is being fought on the abstract electronic plains of America."
Eugene Action

http://www.myharvardlawyer.us/copyright_lawyer_attorney.html

Classic.

[Eugene Action Posted Dec 20th 2009 5:13AM]

@bri3d ya

[Eugene Action Posted Dec 20th 2009 5:14AM]

@Eugene Action Get Action now!

[Dogcowsaysmoof Posted Dec 19th 2009 7:15PM]

[e-mail]
Who knew these still existed? If he already has a domain name, why not get a free Google Apps account and look ten times more professional? I never trust any business without a proper domain name in their email account, and the five minutes it takes to set it up is well worth it.

[dantzig Posted Dec 19th 2009 11:21PM]

@Dogcowsaysmoof
yes, [e-mail] would be much more professional!

[Ucvbn Bjfyuvs Posted Dec 19th 2009 7:17PM]

just go away already!

[Dr Yusuf AlKindi Posted Dec 19th 2009 7:26PM]

I was graduated from Harvard, also.
Big Deal!

His website looks more like his practice is a collection of ambulance chases who handle everything, accept all cases, and of course, they accept credit cards. It reminds me of the website of a Bail Bondsman who is trying to get business from anyone poor shmo who has a problem.

[Rob Conway Posted Dec 19th 2009 8:30PM]

@Dasaii I think that might be the worst website I've ever seen!

[corecomps Posted Dec 19th 2009 9:12PM]

If they are properly incorporated, their business (not them) are required to pay those fines. If they can stay in business long enough to pay themselves personally enough money to drain the companies assets, they will be able to get out of this scott free. Bankruptcy on the business shouldn't affect them personally.

Well except that people might have a hard time trusting them in the future.

[Alex Posted Dec 19th 2009 9:25PM]

" 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."

What a pompous prick.

[Wesscoast Posted Dec 19th 2009 9:35PM]

"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."

Dear Harvard,

What happened? You used to be such a well-respected institution the world over. Then you started letting every Tom Dick and Harry have a Law Degree. You just need to tighten up the approvals process, mmkay?

Signed,
Someone who went to a school no one's heard of.

[WindowsEmpire Posted Dec 19th 2009 10:20PM]

Pystar 2: Back In Business.

[thefjk Posted Dec 19th 2009 10:57PM]

That's Psystar for you, these guys are like the cockroaches that Apple just can't stomp out! Keep up the good fight boys, regardless of your reputation, people won't soon forget youz!

[John Doe Posted Dec 19th 2009 11:54PM]

Just go out of business already. The fewer Macs out there the better off this world will be. What with Apple being a cancer on the tech industry and all.

[Ducman69 Posted Dec 20th 2009 4:07AM]

@John Doe - Apple and Microsoft offer the only two dumbed down easy to use and pretty GUI OSs currently on the market for the mainstream consumer.

Now, granted, OSX is insignificant in the marketplace, but that is only because its bundled with hugely overpriced hardware. If you could pick a $100 Windows Home Premium or $100 OSX Leopard option when configuring your Dell computer, I have a strong feeling OSX could take a good 25% of the market.

Intel vs AMD, Nvidia vs ATI, XBox vs PS3, Atari vs Commodore, Inigo Montoya vs the 6 fingered man... rivalries make both stronger! :D

[Wowzers Posted Dec 20th 2009 1:21AM]

I am loving the part under Family Law:


"Don't be bullied by a spouse."

....followed by a picture of a t-rex skeleton!

[Jack Posted Dec 20th 2009 2:08AM]

Well the question that really needs to be answered is this: How good a lawyer is Eugene Action if he took this case in the first place? If he were a good lawyer he would have known he was going to lose right from the start.

Unless he was promised lots of money, in which case he wouldn't care if he lost or not.

[OC Technophile Posted Dec 20th 2009 3:02AM]

any lawyer website with a guy who can't spell, and in shorts should be removed from the internet. DDOS that guy ASAP

[Harrison Posted Dec 20th 2009 3:11AM]

"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."

is at odds with

"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 [phone] and my Oakhurst number is [phone]."

He's a friendly guy, really. He's just really arrogant. Thank God Psystar didn't go for Barry Zuckercorn or Bob Loblaw. That would have had disastrous consequences.

Anyways, has anyone noticed how Psystar has had a Christopher Columbus-type story? They basically discovered something people already knew existed, made it into a somewhat big deal, and ended up getting themselves into trouble with the law. The fact that they are based in Florida, somewhat close, at least to the USA, to Hispaniola is just icing on the cake.

[YvesOfWinter Posted Dec 20th 2009 9:51AM]

I really wish rebel EFI was still being sold. It would have been nice to install OSX on my envy 15.

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[andix Posted Dec 21st 2009 1:53AM]

did anybody notice what the ps#@!*(&(#@*& website states?
if not, here's a quote for you all:



the cheekiness amazes me.

[nagano Posted Dec 21st 2009 3:19AM]

Eugene Action recommends: "Don't go to a hospital without a doctor and don't go to the courtroom without a winning trial lawyer." Sure. I always bring my doctor along when I'm hospitalized. But he forgot to mention that one should never go to a restaurant without a cook, to sea without a boat or to hell without a pope.

[Chrisboff Posted Dec 24th 2009 8:03AM]

Psystar should just go through with their whole "open computing" tagline and opensource the Rebel EFI software. Then there is not much apple can do to stop it.