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Apple wins copyright infringement case against Psystar in California

by Nilay Patel posted Nov 14th 2009 at 5:59PM

Well, well. Apple's won its copyright infringement claim against would-be Mac cloner Psystar in California. Anyone surprised? As we've been saying all along, the key argument wasn't the OS X EULA or Psystar's failed monopoly claims, but pure, simple copyright infringement, since Psystar was illegally copying, modifying, and distributing Apple's code. Psystar was also dinged for circumventing Apple's kernel encryption in violation of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, but that's just another nail in the coffin, really. There's still some legal fireworks to come, as Apple's various other claims like breach of contract, trademark infringement, and unfair competition weren't addressed in this ruling, but those are all secondary issues now -- and we'd expect this decision to have quite an impact on the other case currently ongoing in Florida. We've broken down the highlights after the break, hit up the read link for the PDF and follow along.

[Via Groklaw]

Continue reading Apple wins copyright infringement case against Psystar in California

Psystar founders claim they cracked OS X, hackintosh scene is 'all wrong'

by Nilay Patel posted Nov 11th 2009 at 5:03PM

Okay, so we're reading this puff piece in the Miami New Times about would-be Mac cloner Psystar, and while we're somewhat willing to dismiss author Tim Elfrink's various mischaracterizations of the law and what Psystar is actually doing as just laziness and / or ignorance, there's a quote here from Psystar founder Rudy Pedraza that simply leaps off the page:

Rudy scoffs at the idea he borrowed from the Hackintosh scene. "The first thing you have to do is unlearn everything you've read online about how to make this work," Rudy says, "because it's all wrong."

Really? Because we think there's a very large, very active hacking community out there that would disagree with you, Rudy.

P.S.- A full list of every other mistake in this piece after the break.

[Thanks, Chris]

Continue reading Psystar founders claim they cracked OS X, hackintosh scene is 'all wrong'

Video: Intel's Light Peak running an HD display while transferring files... on a hackintosh

by Nilay Patel posted Sep 24th 2009 at 2:36PM

Intel just did a pretty impressive demo of its new Light Peak optical device interconnect, driving a greater-than-HD display while saturating an SSD RAID all over one cable, but we couldn't help but notice the monster Frankenstein test rig on stage was running OS X -- looks like someone's violating their EULA! Video after the break.

Continue reading Video: Intel's Light Peak running an HD display while transferring files... on a hackintosh

German Mac cloners: "We know our product won't last long"

by Nilay Patel posted Feb 24th 2009 at 1:24PM

We knew the loophole in German contract law that would-be Mac cloners HyperMegaNet claimed exempted them from the OS X EULA was too good to be true, and it sounds like they do too: in an interview with the New York Times, owner Dirk Bloessl says that although he doesn't "fear Apple," all Cupertino needs to do to shut his PearC machines down is label the Leopard retail box "to be installed only on a Mac" or even just point out that the license is available on the Apple website. Until that happens, Dirk says he'll be selling his hackintoshes to anyone who wants "a fast machine, but does not need a good looking computer," even though he knows "the product does not have a long life time." That's certainly more reasonable than the increasingly wild-eyed defenses mounted by Psystar, but we've got a feeling Apple's German legal team is going to crack down just as hard.

German Mac clone company thinks Germany doesn't have laws

by Nilay Patel posted Feb 6th 2009 at 3:36PM

We're never going to get tired of the insane legal theories would-be Mac clone companies trot out to try and circumvent incredibly basic copyright and contract law concepts -- like Psystar claiming Apple has a monopoly on its own products -- and today we've got German cloners HyperMeganet, who'll sell you a 3.2GHz Core i7 Blu-ray-equipped PearC tower with Mac OS X preinstalled for €2,408 ($3,111). According to the wonderfully-named Hypermeganet, German law requires EULAs to be available for review before purchase, so Apple can't enforce its license restrictions since the Mac OS X EULA isn't printed on the outside of the box. Leaving aside the fact that the OS X installer displays the EULA on-screen and that you have to click "Agree" before installing, we'd just like to point out that all of Apple's license agreements are available for your leisurely perusal before purchase right here -- including the German OS X license, which we're damn sure Apple's foreign counsel has made sure is valid and applicable in that country. Oops. We'll see how long Hypermeganet can keep itself out of trouble -- seriously, when will these companies learn that all they're doing is hurting the homebrew OS X hacking scene by tempting Apple into locking down their systems even harder?

[Via TUAW]

Read - Spiegel Online article about PearC
Read - PearC website

iBook G4 benchmarked against hackintosh netbook, comes out even

by Nilay Patel posted Feb 3rd 2009 at 7:46PM

Apple's been pretty resistant to putting out an OS X netbook, and we might have an inkling why -- according to benchmarks run on a hackintosh'd MSI Wind variant, Apple's OS runs just about as well on your average 1.6GHz Atom / 1GB RAM machine as it does on a four-year-old iBook G4. Sure, the Atom boots a bit faster and outperforms the G4 on simple tasks, but it slows way down when the going gets tough. Of course, the iBook was a much larger machine than most netbooks out there, but with numbers like this we'd say those of you searching for an OS X netbook can skip the EULA violations and just hunt down an old 12-inch PowerBook G4. Check out all the stats at the read link.

[Thanks, Penny]

Psystar's lawyers take another hit, say Apple didn't copyright OS X

by Nilay Patel posted Dec 23rd 2008 at 12:07AM

It's official -- Psystar's "hotshot law firm" of Carr and Ferrell is desperate. Their latest brief on behalf of the wannabe Mac clonemaker says that Apple's copyright infringement and DMCA claims against Psystar are invalid because Steve and Co. improperly registered the copyright to OS X. Yes, that's right: Psystar's arguing that the most protective and litigious computer maker on the planet didn't take the time to properly register the copyright to its flagship product. If that sounds insane, it's because it is: we found registrations for every major version of OS X, dating from 2001, in about five seconds of searching. Seriously, if an argument this simple was a winner you'd think we'd have heard about it from the get-go, instead of Psystar's dubious, immediately-dismissed antitrust claims. We have no idea who's approving or paying for these flailing tactics, but firms like Carr and Ferrell don't risk their reputations on ridiculous arguments like this for free -- maybe there's something to that crazy "secret backer" conspiracy theory after all.

[Via AppleInsider]

Read - Psystar claims Apple didn't register the copyright in OS X
Read - Apple's OS X 10.5 copyright registration
Read - Apple's original OS X copyright registration

Realtek employees leak OS X WiFi drivers for the MSI U100 Wind

by Ross Miller posted Dec 15th 2008 at 10:48AM

Although not officially posted on its website (yet), Realtek has reportedly been sending out an OS X driver for its RTL8187SE wireless card found in MSI's U100 Wind. Various posters at the MSI Wind forums say they were sent the driver from Realtek employees after contacting the company, which invariably led to the drivers being uploaded to RapidShare for everyone to grab. Apparently the card isn't recognized as an Airport device, and forum users are suggesting to instead get the Real WLAN Client Utility. Supposedly, Realtek employees stated (via email) that the driver would be released before December 15, though according to some posters, the company has already missed a November date -- so if you want the driver now, your best bet is to start scavenging the forums.

[Via GottaBeMobile]

EFi-X shuts down EFi-X USA, says it doesn't support Mac clones

by Nilay Patel posted Dec 12th 2008 at 4:17PM

The Mac cloning soap opera just keeps taking crazy twists and turns -- Art Studios Entertainment, makers of the EFi-X dongle, have shut down EFi-X USA's plans to sell "Millennium" machines capable of running OS X just hours after they were announced. ASE CEO Davide Rutigliano sent us a statement saying that EFi-X USA was misinterpreting ASE's EFi-X certification program, that ASE will "NEVER sell machines or condone the sale of machines that compete with any brand," and that he personally ordered the project abandoned. Indeed, a visit to EFi-X USA's page confirms that the machines have been killed, although we're unsure what the terse statement "EFi-X USA LLC fights the clones and the clonemakers" is supposed to mean. All part of another strange chapter in the Hackintosh saga, we suppose. Check ASE's full statement after the break.

[Via Tom's Hardware]

Continue reading EFi-X shuts down EFi-X USA, says it doesn't support Mac clones

OpeniMac offers cut-rate, aesthetically challenged Apple clones direct from Argentina

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Dec 4th 2008 at 5:41PM

After seeing how well Psystar did with its Open Computer, we think we'll just build our own Hackintosh rather than jump into this OpeniMac we've recently been hepped to. But who knows? Maybe you've been dying to send your hard earned money down to some shady Argentinean characters. In that case, this 2.53GHz machine should be right up your alley. Selling for $990 (or $1,330 with an LG 19-inch monitor), the base unit ships with 2GB memory, 320GB storage, and a 256MB ATI Radeon HD PRO. If you've got deep pockets, $1,710 will get you the OpeniMacPRO, a 3.0GHz machine with a 20-inch widescreen monitor and 4GB RAM. But seriously -- who knows where the money goes? And who knows whether you'll ever see the machine? One thing is for certain, however -- this case is as ugly as sin.

[Thanks, Santiago]

Psystar's antitrust claims against Apple dismissed

by Nilay Patel posted Nov 18th 2008 at 7:02PM

Well, we can't say we didn't see this coming -- Judge William Alsup in the federal Northern District of California today dismissed Psystar's antitrust counterclaims in Apple's copyright infringement lawsuit against the wannabe Mac cloner. According to the judge, Psystar's hotshot legal team failed to provide facts "plausibly supporting the counterintuitive claim that Apple's operating system is so unique that it suffers no actual or potential competitors." Not only that, but the judge also found that Psystar actually contradicted itself in pointing out that Apple has to advertise heavily to promote OS X against competing operating systems that perform the same tasks, and that Apple is "certainly entitled" to ask its customers to only use OS X on Apple machines. Yeah, that's a smackdown. Psystar has until December 18th to amend its complaint and try these arguments again, but we can't say we think it's got a shot in hell here -- and something tells us that that court-mandated alternative dispute resolution process isn't going to get very far in Psystar's favor either.

Disclaimer: Nilay's a lawyer and sells bootleg OSx86 machines out the back of his van, but he's not your lawyer and this isn't legal advice.

[Via Macrumors]

Dell Mini 9 hacked to run OS X

by Nilay Patel posted Oct 3rd 2008 at 12:01PM

We're assuming Apple will eventually give up and release a netbook of its own, but until then Steve had better get used to seeing OS X hacked to run on all manner of tiny laptops -- the latest to make the switch is Dell's Inspiron Mini 9. Nothing too complicated about this hack, since most of the work was already done for the internally-similar MSI Wind, but you'll have to dig up some extra Broadcom drivers to get WiFi and sound working. Seems like a fun little project for the weekend -- anyone going to take the plunge?

OS X-installing EFi-X now shipping for $155

by Darren Murph posted Sep 17th 2008 at 11:45AM

After a few false starts, the OS X-installing EFi-X dongle is finally shipping to consumers. Currently, two versions are up for grabs: the USB V1 for the average joe / jane and the USB V2 Developers Unit for, well, developers. In short, plugging this gem into your PC will enable select systems to install OS X, but we'd take a hard look at the fine print (and certified systems) before blindly plunking down $155 and hoping for the best.

[Via MacRumors, thanks Joseph]

OS X-installing EFIX device gets unboxed

by Donald Melanson posted Sep 11th 2008 at 5:37PM

While some may have rightly questioned whether the OS X-installing EFIX device would ever actually see the light of day, it looks like the Apple irritant is very much real, and now in the hands of at least at two adventuresome InsanelyMac forum members, one of whom thankfully took time to snap a few unboxing pictures. The other member, "np_," went one step further and tested the device with an Asus motherboard and found that it worked "perfectly," despite the fact that EFIX only officially supports Gigabyte boards. Hit up the link below for a few more pics and impressions.

[Thanks, Rich]

Psystar to countersue Apple for antitrust violations, will ask court to declare Leopard EULA void

by Nilay Patel posted Aug 26th 2008 at 7:44PM

Wannabe Mac cloners Psystar hired itself some hotshot lawyers to defend against Apple's lawsuit, and they're not wasting any time earning their fees -- as Psystar's hinted in the past, it's going to countersue Apple for antitrust violations and ask that the court declare the Leopard EULA void. That's a pretty longshot argument, especially since EULAs have traditionally been upheld in California and Florida and we find it hard to believe a court would find a company with ten percent marketshare to be abusing a monopoly position, but we'll see how everything goes down -- this one is going to have some fireworks for sure.