OpenMac

[LordShiva]

Mac clone maker vows to test Apple on OS X licensing terms

Psystar Corporation, which this week began selling a series of Mac clone systems without Apple's blessing, is determined to challenge the Mac maker in court over the licensing terms for its Mac OS X operating system.

Speaking to InformationWeek, a Psystar employee identified only as Robert said his company sees Apple's end-user license agreement, which prohibits third-party installations of Mac OS X on non-Apple hardware, as a violation of antitrust laws.

"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?"

As such, the Psystar representative implied that the company is eager to bring the matter before a court, where it believes Apple will have a tough time defending its stringent licensing terms.

As part of its defense, the Miami-based reseller also appears to be accusing Apple of price gouging its customers with each Mac OS X-based computer it sells.

"They're charging an 80 percent markup on hardware," Robert told InformationWeek.

He said Psystar plans to continue selling its $400 OpenMac clone and insisted that the company isn't "breaking any laws."

Ironically, Psystar on Monday evening changed the name of its offering from "OpenMac" to "Open Computer," presumably to avoid charges that it was indeed violating trademark law.

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/04/15/mac_clone_maker_vows_to_test_apple_on_os_x_licensing_terms.html

Apple should fight this in order to protect consumer interests, just like they do with iTunes+DRM

[Imran Siddiqui]

Psystar

[KrazyHorse]

Consumers must be protected from their own choices. This can be demonstrated because some of them choose not to use Macs.

[Wiglaf]

BEND OVER TECH FORUM

BEND OVER

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Haven't we, uh, done this before?

[Asher]

Steve Jobs is on a warpath. Fresh after disowning his first child and stopping all philanthropy at Apple, his next target is reasonable computer prices.

[KrazyHorse]

I hear he clubs baby seals.

[BeBMan]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse
Consumers must be protected from they're own choices.

/nazi

[KrazyHorse]

Goddamnit, why am I spelling so badly lately.

[Asher]

Living in Amurica will do that to you, makes you a moran

[KrazyHorse]

http://www.morantug.com/

[Verto]

Gizmodo and others are calling it a hoax, although scam is probably a better word.

[Riesstiu IV]

Clicked on the link provided by LordShoeva and found this after a looking around a little.

Report waves caution at shadiness of would-be Mac clone maker.

A brief investigation into Psystar Corporation reveals the self-proclaimed Mac cloner maker to have no operating history prior to this week, and further suggests the company may be little more than one-man basement operation.

Given the company's claims of a $400 Mac system and a vow to battle Apple over its Mac OS X licensing terms, the Guardian's Charles Arthur decided to do some digging on the integrity of the much talked about Miami-based solutions reseller.

The results? Not promising. Although the Psystar.com website was registered back in 2000, Google and other search engines turn up absolutely no references to the company prior to this week's news that it would offer an unauthorized Mac system.

"I called the Miami Chamber of Commerces and its Better Business Bureau," Arthur wrote. "They've never heard of it."

What's more, Psystar appears to have hastily relocated on Tuesday to an industrial park within Miami's north-west side, according to an address change posted to its website. On Monday, the company's address was listed as 10645 SW 112 Street -- a three bedroom home built in 1957 along a row of suburban houses.

As part of his investigation, Arthur also put in calls to phone numbers listed on Psystar's website. After a dead end at "Human Resources," he was able to get an unnamed individual on the phone by selecting the option for "Customer Support."

That individual, however, referred all of the reporter's questions to Psystar's press email, from which replies have not been forthcoming. When asked if there were many individuals like himself working in the company's support division, the individual then claimed that he was not a support representative and was instead "just answering the phones."

It's either a scam or some nutjob. Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if Asher was behind this.

[Aeson]

Apple already eliminated them I see... and did so via time-travel!

[KrazyHorse]

iParadox