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Defiant Psystar back selling Leopard computers

by pgaliba | April 15, 2008 at 02:34 pm | 105 views | 2 comments

Psystar is back online selling "white box" Macs with a few subtle changes, and one employee has already played the monopoly card.

As you might recall, Psystar's Web site was overwhelmed Monday after it was found to be selling cheap computers with Mac OS X Leopard preinstalled. This caused quite the commotion, as Apple does not license its operating system to other hardware makers, and specifically prohibits (PDF) end users from installing Mac OS X on anything other than an "Apple labeled" computer.

Ars Technica noted that Psystar made several changes to its Web site while it was down Monday. First of all, the product is no longer the OpenMac, it's the Open Computer. Psystar's owner, Rudy Pedraza, told Ars that Psystar did that on their own to "avoid any issues." Wonder what those might be.

The company is also now offering the "OpenPro Computer" in addition to the Open Computer, which might remind you of a certain desktop computer sold by a certain California company that uses a piece of fruit as a logo. That machine costs $999, can be upgraded to quad-core processors, and is available with Leopard preinstalled.

On Monday, a Psystar representative who would identify himself only as "Robert" said the company is not concerned about legal action by Apple. "We're not breaking any laws," Robert insisted in a telephone interview.

Psystar may be willing to have its right to sell Mac clones tested in court, Robert implied. "What if Microsoft said you could only install Windows on Dell computers?," he said. "What if Honda said that, after you buy their car, you could only drive it on the roads they said you could?"

Robert also accused Apple of marking up the hardware on which its operating systems run by as much as 80%.

While it's doubtful a small vendor like Psystar could withstand a legal assault by Apple on its own, the company could possibly draw support from interest groups that are opposed to restrictive software licenses and patents, or even from big hardware makers that, no doubt, would themselves relish the opportunity to market a Mac clone -- if only to counter Microsoft's influence on their business.

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jordan

at 06:14 on April 16th, 2008

It's an interesting case: as Apple moved to the Intel chipset, their rationale for bundling hardware and software began to crumble: the guts of a Mac are basically the same as the guts of a PC.

pgaliba

at 06:58 on April 16th, 2008

Psystar, makers of the OpenMac (now hastily renamed "Open Computer"), plans to fight Apple for the right to preinstall OS X Leopard on its 3rd party hackintosh. Apple's End User License Agreement expressly forbids installing the operating system on anything other than Apple hardware.

A spokesman for Psystar, named Robert (no surname given), told Information Week that his company believes Apple is committing some imagined anti-trust offense and violating US monopoly laws. Lets take a look at the arguments.

What if Honda said that, after you buy their car, you could only drive it on the roads they said you could?

Then don't buy it. This is a straw man argument. Apple's EULA might forbid the use of its OS on third party hardware, but would never chase individuals who do this. The clause is aimed at corporations loading OS X onto machines and selling them, a practice which would cut into Apple's hardware revenue. So Robert might better ask: "What if Honda said that it won't allow other car makers to put its proprietary self-parking software in their cars?" In this case, Honda surely wouldn't care if a lone hacker ported the system to an old Chevy Nova, but if Ford ripped it off wholesale, Honda would sue.