Psystar files official notice of appeal, ruthlessly attacks windmill
We’re still not clear on whether Psystar is still in business, or if it’s selling anything other than T-shirts, but the would-be Mac cloner isn’t totally out of the game yet: it’s filed an official notice of appeal in the California court, which means it’s going to try and fight that decisive victory and injunction won by Apple a month ago. 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 — we’d say this appeal is a long shot, but we didn’t go to Harvard Law School like Psystar attorney Eugene Action. Man, we missed that guy. Let’s quote from his website again, shall we?
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.
Let’s be honest: we never, ever, want this story to end.
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.
Psystar files official notice of appeal, ruthlessly attacks windmill originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 16 Jan 2010 12:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
If You Can’t Beat Apple, Sell T-Shirts [Revenge of Psystar!]
What do you do when your renegade Macintosh clone business is knocked out of commission by a legal ruling? The obvious answer, according to Psystar, is to sell t-shirts!
This is probably the closest thing to a Mac clone you’ll be able to pick up from a vendor anytime soon. Unfortunately for Psystar, it’s probably the closest thing to revenue they’ll see anytime soon as well.
If you’re eager to support The Cause, you can pick one up in small, medium, large or extra large for $15 a pop.
What do you think of the Psystar ruling?
[via Gizmodo]
Tags: apple, clones, legal, mac, psystar, software
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.
Psystar still in business, or not in business, or… something originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 19 Dec 2009 17:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Psystar to shut down ‘immediately,’ world shrugs
Psystar to shut down ‘immediately,’ world shrugs originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Dec 2009 20:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | 
Dow Jones | Email this | Comments
Psystar banned from copying any version of OS X, helping others install it
And it’s all over, folks: The US District Court for the Northern District of California has just permanently forbidden wannbe Mac cloner Psystar from selling modified versions of OS X, providing any tools that enable users to bypass the OS X kernel encryption, and / or intentionally aiding anyone else from infringing Apple’s OS X copyrights in any way. We knew this was coming following Apple’s decisive victory against Psystar last month — the only open questions were whether the court would include Snow Leopard and Psytar’s Rebel EFI software in the ban, since the lawsuit was specifically about Leopard and Rebel EFI wasn’t the subject of any proceedings. Both issues were predictably resolved in favor of Apple: the court specifically included Snow Leopard and any future versions of OS X in the scope of the injunction, and while Judge Alsup couldn’t address Rebel EFI directly, he did expressly forbid Psystar from “manufacturing, importing, offering to the public, providing, or otherwise trafficking” in anything that circumvents Apple’s OS X hardware locks — which we’d say covers Rebel EFI’s functionality pretty thoroughly. Psystar has until December 31 to comply, and the Judge Alsup isn’t kidding around: “Defendant must immediately begin this process, and take the quickest path to compliance; thus, if compliance can be achieved within one hour after this order is filed, defendant shall reasonably see it done.” Psystar can still appeal, obviously, but it’s already got its own hefty legal bills and a $2.67m fine to pay to Apple, so we’ve got a feeling this one might have reached the end of the line.
P.S.- Amusingly, Judge Alsup appears to be pretty sick of Apple’s shenanigans as well: in the section discussing Snow Leopard, he says Apple first tried to block any discovery of Snow Leopard before the OS was released, and then pushed to include the software in the case after it launched. That’s why the Florida case over Snow Leopard wasn’t merged into this case — Alsup thought it was a “slick tactic” that “smacked of trying to ‘have it both ways,’ and offended [his] sense of fair play.” Ouch.
Psystar banned from copying any version of OS X, helping others install it originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Dec 2009 13:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Injunction (PDF) | Email this | Comments
Apple dings Psystar for $2.67m, round two heads to Florida
digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/apple/Apple_dings_Psystar_for_2_67m_round_two_heads_to_Florida’; It looks like the first phase of the Apple / Psystar Mac cloning saga is winding towards a conclusion, as the two sides have just filed to wrap up their case with the California court that ruled decisively in favor of Apple last month. As you probably expect, Apple hasn’t ceded much ground here: Psystar’s agreed to be deemed liable for illegally copying OS X Leopard, bypassing the OS X kernel encryption in violation of the DMCA, and breaching Apple’s EULA, all to the tune of $2,675,050. In return, Apple’s dropping its various trademark and unfair competition claims, and has promised to hold off on collecting any cash until the various appeals have run their course. Now, considering Apple and Psystar are currently engaged in pretty much the exact same case in Florida over Snow Leopard, we’d say that this agreement isn’t much more than a way for both sides to save money and move on to that fight: Apple’s already won the bulk of its case against Psystar in California, and spending money to litigate trademark claims we thought were weak when we first read them doesn’t really buy Steve any leverage he doesn’t already have, while Psystar probably needs to scrimp all the coin it can.
There’s one other little wrinkle here, and that’s exactly what Apple’s eventually going to be able to prevent Psystar from doing. It’s certain that the California court will bar Psystar from preloading machines with Leopard, but Psystar’s arguing that its new Rebel EFI software shouldn’t be covered by any decision, since it wasn’t part of the case. That’s an interesting argument and definitely worth some consideration — but it’s got some holes in it since Psystar’s now admitted that it’s liable for contributory and induced copyright infringement and violating the DMCA. As we’ve said before, Psystar’s essentially doing with Rebel EFI what Grokster got smacked by the Supreme Court for doing in 2005: it’s trying to build a business around the knowing copyright infringement of customers, and that usually doesn’t fly. We’ll see what happens — and Florida awaits.
Apple dings Psystar for $2.67m, round two heads to Florida originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Settlement (PDF), Rebel EFI Motion (PDF) | Email this | Comments
Apple wins copyright infringement case against Psystar in California
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
Filed under: Software
Apple wins copyright infringement case against Psystar in California originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments