Psystar files official notice of appeal, ruthlessly attacks windmill
By Nilay Patel 
posted January 16th 2010 12:32PM
posted January 16th 2010 12:32PM
Let's be honest: we never, ever, want this story to end.The matrix is born and the energy sucking machine herds Americans into pods of predetermined limitations. Forced programming on your computer is just one of the provisional patents looming against freedom and democracy. Capitalism spurring innovation and creativity through open and competitive markets is at risk on this new frontier. This new battle is being fought on the abstract electronic plains of America while most of us cannot even open our email. The beachheads are red with the blood of ambitious Americans gunned down for their initiative.
P.S. -- Wondering why Rebel EFI is listed as "out of stock" on the Psystar website? It's because there isn't any stock, shockingly enough -- in a statement filed with the court on December 31, Rudy Pedraza says all copies of the bootloader have been destroyed except for one that's in the possession of his attorneys. Between this appeal and the pending case in Florida over Snow Leopard, we'd say that means it'll be a long time before the software is back on the scene -- enough time for the legit OSx86 scene to leapfrog it entirely.
that windmill won't know what hit it.
@EatMoreBread
Don Quixote reference?
@Knolly Lol
@Engadget
Apple-whoring much?
come on!
Let's bring back Power Computing while we're at it!!
There's a simple explanation: They're stone cold, bat shit crazy.
@MarkAnderson
Yes, but so is Deadpool.
I wonder if Psystar think in little iPhone SMS bubbles?
Hmm, hate Psystar because they took advantage of the user-community, or hate Apple because they're one of the biggest backers of corporate copyrights stifling peoples' ability to do what they want with something they buy...
I guess the fact that these two wonderful companies have to deal with each other is going to have to be good enough for me.
@Hexydes: I like that.
I haven't really followed this whole Psystar thing. But I gotta say, I just gained a huge amount of respect for whoever wrote that statement. They hit the nail on the head, regarding everything that's wrong with the tech biz right now.
@Hexydes
Just hate both.
For anyone who hasn't seen his site, Eugene Action "specialises" in over 250 area of practice, this guy is mental. I wouldn't be surprised if he WAS Psystar.
@d0mth0ma5 I enter a room that's bright white. I see some guy dressed in white.
Me: "Who the hell are you?!"
Eugene Action: "I am the Architect..."
@d0mth0ma5 He is a nut job, no wonder they exiled him to Fresno/Merced. I have to say I also love his website address (you can find it by searching his name). One of his specialty areas is perjury lol.
These guys need their heads tested. Apple actually let them off the hook by not demanding full payment after they won the case, and now they pull this?! Don't be surprised if Apple takes the gloves off this time around.
@sonola777 They'll need to do more then clinch their sphincters.
Why wont it die!
@MoonWalkerCTE
they are the anti-christ?
@MoonWalkerCTE
You cannot kill that which has no life..
@valerio
Lol! +1
@valerio
I just watched the skeleton of cadavera (like just finished 10 minutes ago). Is that what you are referencing? If so, awesome. The movie is indeed genius.
From the director of The Neverending Story and the Duke Nukem epic, comes the latest sequel in the Psytar series... PSYTAR XVIII: Dead Horse Assault! ... available now in IMAX 3D theaters around you.
Ukraine is game to you?! Howbout I take your little board and smash
it!!
*applauding* well played psystar, well played
Eugene Action.
A soporific christian name that lulls you into a false sense of security before you are slapped in the face with a canoe paddle rigged with dynamite.
"enough time for the legit OSx86 scene to leapfrog it entirely"
Wow. Just wow. There is nothing "legit" about violating license agreements in a non-profit way. You guys really ought to be thankful for Psystar because they are like a infected zit smack in the middle of Apple's back. Whether they are batshit crazy or just crazy like your ex-girlfriend, they are showing Apple how costly it is to enforce Draconian software license agreements.
You guys ought to look through Apple's license agreements. Did you know that in Snow Leopard, they inserted a prohibition on using synthesized speech in public settings or recordings? 20 years we were allowed and even encouraged to do it, then blamo, no more because of a license update. Apple lawyers are turds of the highest order. They deserve that infected pimple on their back. And more.
@Bosco My view:
OS X Business model = Extremely effective.
Well designed hardware, charged at a premium
OS restricted to hardware, makes both exclusive
Exclusive, expensive things = fashionable
Yes its draconian, but thats what makes it brilliant. Obviously OSx86 breaches this model, but I do not actually think that Hackintoshers steal much business from Apple, as they usually use budget hardware, so would just use windows/linux instead.
@Bosco
You think Apple really cares about a few geeks hacking OS X on to their PCs? No, probably not. We're not really lost sales because we wouldn't have bought the Apple hardware anyway (myself excluded... I'm a fanboy, though.) As long as the MASSES can't easily hack OS X onto their everyday PC, Apple doesn't have to worry about going out of business.
Psystar would let the masses do exactly that. Anyone who wanted one could get a cheap(er than Apple) PC with half decent specs running OS X. No hacking required on their part. THAT'S what scares Apple.
Psystar both copies and takes credit for the OSx86 community's work, AND draws unwanted attention to the OSx86 community.
@Oli D
>Well designed hardware, charged at a premium
First off, well designed hardware my arse, its the same hardware in a shiny case. At one point they were charging $300 for an "upgrade" to a processor that cost $40 more (they may still be). I thought the extra cost for crapple was the OS, so what is better about the OS when someone pays the $260 extra over what the processor upgrade ACTUALLY cost?
Its the same as Alienware, and what do most people call Alienware? Dell's with shiny cases. I'm sorry to crash people back to reality, but there is nothing special about crapple hardware, its the same hardware with different firmware and driver. Psystar just proves that.
The OSx86 community should start using the GNU license or CreativeCommons or something!
Damn Psystar. Just go out of freakin' business already...
Were they deystroyed before they hit the torrents? Heh, pirating from a company thats leeching from another.
@Nitesh
Hey, that is what the whole IT industry is based on, only thing that's changed is the legal leeches sniffed a gold mine and latched on to suck away our R&D dollars stiffling innovation and creating the need for more piracy and theft.
You can almost see their greedy fat hands and mouths trying to figure out how to scare IT companies into part with the large pots of cash amassed.
Don't forget, most people of "law" come from wealth, they weren't the nerd, the geek, they are the spoilt jocks who feel jilted by how the smart ones have suddenly got more money than them.
Hmmm.
Hey, I think if they started selling tshirts like "I supported Pystar" they might make a few bucks from angsty geeks.
psystar needs to stop walking around with a chip on their shoulders, thinking they didnt anything wrong here! MAN... the attorney has a real twisted perception of capitalism.
Maybe the goal of Psystar as a business was never to sell computers at all? Perhaps this is all elaborate performance art designed to sell t-shirts and rake in pay pal donations?
Those who have'nt need to check out this guy's website for some LOL's.
A last name like action, "Thousands of cases handled" & practice area's include everything under the sun. Yup. He sure seems like a wiener...oops, i mean winner.
The author should brush up on his knowledge of the legalities in his post.
It is 100% legal, and done by millions of Americans everyday, to resell copyrighted purchases.
It's enshrined in the "Right of First Sale" (although that is something different) in the US. Please look it up.
Ever sold an old book/DVD/etc? All perfectly legal. Reselling software that you OWN is also perfectly legal.
You can't resell(reissue) software that you only "hold a licence" for...
@grobbo If you've read EULA's, especially of Apple products, you'll find that you are leasing the software and the laws that bind physical objects do not apply here.
@grobbo
Since he is a lawyer with some background in copyright, I'm pretty sure the author of this post is more than familiar with the legalities of this post.
I think you might need to brush up on what Psystar was found guilty of. Because it wasn't just reselling copyrighted material (which would be perfectly legal). They were modifying it and then reselling it. Big difference.
@Munk
Which is why I mentioned licenced software. I wasn't posting about Psystar in particular, I was posting about the OP. It says reselling software is illegal, which is incorrect.
@minimalist
Perhaps he should be, but this: "you can't copy, modify, and resell a copyrighted work without permission" suggests otherwise.
You absolutely CAN resell a copyrighted work without permission.
@grobbo
Did you miss the word "modify"?
@grobbo
Did you forget the "alter" part? That most certainly is not legal.
@grobbo Hi. I used to be a copyright attorney.
First sale was explicitly discussed and denied by the court in this case. Have you tried clicking on the many hyperlinks found in this post? They will provide the background information you need. They're the words highlighted in blue -- just move your mouse until the on-screen arrow hovers over them, and then press the button on the left.
@Nilay Patel
Do you usually go out of your way to insult readers critical of you?
Insecure much?
As I've already stated, I didn't bring up right of first sale in particular reference to Psystar (although their problem was selling copies instead of something specifically bought by them, which would be covered by right of first sale), but in reaction to you implying sale of copyrighted works is illegal in your post.
@grobbo
"but in reaction to you implying sale of copyrighted works is illegal in your post."
Man, you are just attacking straw men here. The OP very clearly said:
"Just based on the simple open-and-shut legal reasoning involved in the decision -- surprise, you can't copy, modify, and resell a copyrighted work without permission..."
Notice the word "modify"? Such a small word I know, but it makes a huge difference in the eyes of the law.
Is that guys last name really Action? If he wasn't a lawyer the he should of been a stunt man.
Not sure what their idiot lawyer has to do with our gadgets and electronics.
It's a pity Psystar couldn't succeed. More competition for Apple would have been great for consumers of their products.
I'm surprised at all the negative comments directed at Psystar actually. You do realise that any "IBM-compatible" computer you've ever used that wasn't IBM/Lenovo branded also came from cloner companies just like Psystar, don't you?
@grobbo
There is plenty of competition for Apple. Its called Windows and the numerous flavors of Linux.
Microsoft owns the intellectual property that makes "IBM compatible" machines run. If Microsoft did not want to license their OS and participate in the OEM market they would be free to do so. There is no [i]legal mandate[/i] for Microsoft to run their business the way they do. It's their choice.
Apple's chooses to run their business differently. And unless they have a monopoly on a market (which they don;t... the PC market has plenty of competition) its not the government's responsibility to dictate how apple runs its business.
@minimalist
"Plenty" is never enough.
MS is nothing to do with this, and they don't "hold the IP that makes PCs run".
All PC (once IBM-Compatible) makers either are cloners (Compaq, HP, etc) or evolved from cloners.
IBM made the first "IBM-Compatible", and other OEMs copied the hardware, the BIOS, and licenced the same OS from MS.
The only difference between Psystar and them is that IBM didn't own the OS they used, so other OEMs had no trouble using it legally.
IBM was unlucky. Apple was much luckier/smarter.
@grobbo
Micorsoft has EVERYTHING to so with this. This case was about software, not hardware. Nothing in the ruling stated that Psystar was liable for making the hardware they made. It's all about the software and the fact that they altered and then resold intellectual property that was not theirs to alter and resell.
Just because Microsoft chooses to do business this way does not make such a business model legally mandated. If MS wanted to keep their OS restricted to certain hardware and stopped selling OEM versions they would be totally within their rights to do so.
@minimalist
Bringing MS into an issue that doesn't involve them at all is just bizzare. If MS didn't exist in this world at all, it would make absolutely no difference to this situation whatsoever.
I've never once even suggested that Psystar's business model was legal. I said that I personally am sorry to see them fail, and that anyone who has owned a non-IBM/Lenovo PC criticizing them is being hypocritical.