psystar

Apple has won a long-standing legal battle against clone-Mac builder Psystar, with an appeals court upholding a sales ban and agreeing that the firm had violated Apple's copyrights. The injunction had been granted back in December 2009, blocking Psystar from loading copies of OS X onto generic PC hardware and selling its cut-price Mac alternative. However, despite Apple's request for secrecy, the appeals court refused to seal the case records documenting the trial.

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Apple have secured a permanent injunction against clone-Mac manufacturer Psystar, which means the copycat vendor must stop selling hardware running OS X by December 31st 2009.  The ruling also prevents Psystar from “intentionally inducing, aiding, assisting, abetting or encouraging any other person or entity to infringe” on Apple’s copyrights, or indeed “playing any part in a product intended to circumvent Apple’s methods for controlling Mac OS X”.  However the ruling fell short of specifically naming Psystar’s Rebel EFI software, which allows some non-Apple PCs to run OS X, as U.S. District Judge William Alsup felt the company did not sufficiently explain the app’s intention.

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In an unforeseen twist to the Apple/Psystar “clone Mac” legal wrangles, the upstart clone maker has apparently inked a settlement deal that will only be called upon should all of their appeals fall flat.  The deal calls for Psystar to pay an as-yet unspecified amount in damages to Apple as well as cease pre-installing OS X onto their computers; however it may not prevent sales of OS-free machines, onto which customers would then be free to load OS X onto themselves using Psystar’s Rebel EFI software tool.

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After spending most of Friday curled in a ball twitching and drooling after losing power and Internet access for almost 12 hours, I am glad to be back online and in the 21st century again. Just in time to hunker down and dose myself with a nice helping of week in review for your perusal. Chris reviewed the GSM Palm Pre and found the camera wasn't as good as some of its peers but found plenty to like in the end. The webOS operating system stands apart from rival OS'. Buffalo announced the HD-HU3 USB 3.0 drive and controller that will be shipping in Japan this month. The drive isn’t even that expensive; I hope it comes to America too.

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You may recall that somewhat shady company known as Psystar that offered up those Mac clones that led to a lawsuit by Apple. Apple claims that putting the Mac OS X operating system onto computers running hardware it doesn't build is a violation of the license agreement for the software. Psystar may be in bankruptcy but the company has announced that it plans to license its "secret sauce" that allows machines to run Mac OS X.

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Last we heard, Psystar were filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Apple were rubbing their hands together at the prospect of finding out who had been financially backing the Mac-clone company, and everyone else was saying "yep, saw that coming."  Color us surprised, then, to hear that Psystar have emerged from the bankruptcy and even announced a new, Intel Xeon-based product.

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Psystar have reportedly filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, leaving it likely that the company will be steamrolled by Apple’s legal team in their ongoing court case.  Having file the relevant documentation on Thursday May 21st, the bankruptcy hearing itself will take place on June 5th; unlike most such hearings, Psystar’s will be of particular interest as the company’s equity creditors will be named.

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Apple have been pretty resolute that we’ll not find a netbook with their logo on it any time soon, but that doesn’t mean budget ultraportables running OS X won’t end up on sale.  Perpetual pain-in-the-Apple-ass Psystar have confirmed that they’re developing a mobile Mac computer, and while details are unknown it’s entirely possible that they’re looking to sell a preconfigured Hackint0sh netbook.

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Just because one of the best-known computer companies in the world is trying to crush you in court, doesn't mean you should stop pumping out clone computers using their OS.  Psystar has taken a break from accusing Apple of "stretching" copyright law to launch the Psystar Open(3), a compact mini-tower with a range of core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad processors, optional NVIDIA GeForce 9500GT graphics and, of course, Apple OS X.

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The last we heard of the ongoing Apple/Psystar legal battle, the former had succeeded in having the latter’s initial counterclaim thrown out, while Psystar were accusing Apple of not properly copyrighting OS X in the first place.  It wasn’t looking too hot for the Mac-clone maker; however much to Apple’s presumed chagrin, a federal judge has now ruled that Psystar may continue to push its freshly-amended countersuit and even hinted that, if the company can prove its allegations, other companies may be free to sell non-Apple hardware running OS X.

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In the ongoing litigation between Psystar and Apple, the Mac clone manufacturer have claimed Apple failed to file for copyright protection of OS X, and as such are “prohibited from bringing action”.  The argument was submitted last week, as part of Psystar’s defence against Apple’s charge of copyright infringement; it follows Psystar’s counterclaim suit against the company being thrown out of court last month.

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Bad news if you thought that Psystar's counterclaims suit against Apple might see OS X opened up to all and sundry.  A California judge has dismissed the suit, paving the way for Psystar's retaliatory defence to Apple's initial lawsuit being thrown out of court unless they can better substantiate their claims.  Apple sued Psystar in July 2008, over the company's range of computers running a hacked version of OS X; Psystar promptly filed a counterclaim that Apple was violating antitrust laws by preventing other companies from producing OS X-based machines.

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