In a lawsuit against Psystar Corporation, a judge ruled in favor of Apple Inc. However there isn’t a clear winner in this case. Psystar will have to cease designing their core products unless they appeal the case. And Apple is restricting the market share of their operating system.
Psystar installed the Mac operating system into hardware that normally is used for PCs only. After that they sell the PC with the Mac operating system which is better known as a “Hackintosh.” Perhaps Apple saw Psystar as a threat to the sales that they would otherwise make on selling the Mac directly through retail stores or Apple.com. Clearly Apple is slightly concerned about their operating system price when installing it in their own hardware because the company filed for a patent that would allow operating systems to be sold on the cheap assuming there was ads built in.
“In sum, Psystar has violated Apple’s exclusive reproduction right, distribution right, and right to create derivative works,” stated U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup.
Psystar emerged from bankruptcy in July and vowed to make some “applesauce.” Psystar is best known for making “Hackintosh” computers, or hardware that has the Apple Mac operating system installed on them. Apple and Psystar sued each other back and forth.
Now Psystar is suing Apple for monopolizing the “premium computer” market. “By tying its operating system to Apple-branded hardware, Apple restrains trade in personal computers that run Mac OS X, collects monopoly rents on its Macintoshes, and monopolizes the market for ‘premium computers,’” said Psystar’s lawsuit, filed last Wednesday. “Apple’s share of revenue in the market for premium computers — computers priced at over $1,000 — is currently 91%,” wrote Psystar in a statement.
Calling a company a monopoly is an accusation that does not go unnoticed. Microsoft lost a lot of money for being considered a monopoly. Apple may have their lawyers go full force on this case. More news on this lawsuit as it comes in.
At the end of May, Psystar filed for bankruptcy. The company was facing a legal battle against Apple Inc. which put them in bankruptcy in the first place. Now the company is out of bankruptcy and is ready to take on Apple once again. Below is a statement from Psystar:
As you all may already be aware in late May, Psystar filed for Chapter 11 protection. Although this was critical to our continued daily operations, we now are ready to emerge and again battle Goliath.
More information will be available in the coming days when we will be formally discharged by the Bankruptcy court.
When life gives you apples, make applesauce.
Psystar is best known for building computers that use the Mac operating system, but at cheaper prices than what Apple sells computers for. Psystar has even introduced a couple of new products. One is called Open(7) which is a system that uses the Intel Nehalem Xeon platform. The new system is available in desktop and server form. The price of the Open(7) starts at $1,4999 with OS X Leopard installed.
Psystar is a company that is best known for building Hackintosh machines. A Hackintosh is considered an unauthorized Mac clone machine. Psystar did it in a massive production, resulting in a lawsuit headed their way. Long story short, Apple sued Psystar for making Mac clones and Psystar sued them back for anticompetitive practices.
Making matters more complicated, Psystar filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this week in Florida. The Chapter 11 bankruptcy indicates that Psystar’s investors may have given up in the legal battle against Apple. A hearing will take place on June 5 and Psystar’s equity creditors will be revealed on that day. Apple claimed Psystar was violating the Digital Millenium Copyright Act based on the way they installed the Mac OS on the PC.
Despite the bankruptcy filing, Psystar continues to sell Hackintosh PCs on their website: psystar.com. Given the case at hand, it will be an uphill battle for Psystar. Hopefully Apple and Psystar will be able to resolve their differences somehow.
About a month ago Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) decided to sue a small computer company in Florida called Psystar for selling hacked versions of Apple’s operating system. Apple filed the suit one day after Psystar sold modified copies of the Mac OS X 10.5.4 Leopard updates to their previous customers.
Townsend and Townsend and Crew LLP led the case for Apple. The lawsuit was filed on the basis of copyright infringement according to AppleInsider. Psystar sells a desktop for $400 that has PCs running a Mac OS X operating system. Later a representative from Psystar taunted Apple to try and sue them… If Apple did attempt to sue them, it would be in violation of antitrust laws. Apple responded to the challenge.
Today Psystar plans on filing a lawsuit back to Apple with the allegations that Apple is engaging in anticompetitive business practices. Psystar claims that the OpenComputer product sells with a licensed and unmodified copy of the Mac OS.
“My goal is to provide an alternative, not to free the Mac OS,” stated Rudy Pedraza, owner of Psystar. “What we want to do is to provide an alternative, an
option…It’s not that people don’t want to use Mac OS, many people are
open to the idea, but they’re not used to spending an exorbitant amount
of money on something that is essentially generic hardware [CNET].”
More details to come on Pulse 2.0 as this news fleshes out further.
