Psystar, putter-togetherers of Hackintosh PCs, are suing Apple for monopolizing the market for premium computers, a move akin to a prairie dog popping its head up under a lawnmower. The lawsuit states:
“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%.”
I was actually pulling for Psystar before but now it’s clear that the company is fast on its way to being sued into oblivion. Their quixotic quests mixed with a consistent failure to deliver support – just try getting a “repair disk” from them: you have to send in what is essentially copy of your original invoice and esoteric proofs of purchase – shows that they’re not quite serious when it comes to the manufacture of quality hardware and are instead going the troll route.
Here’s the how I see it: you can I should – and can – build Hackintoshes. Presumably I should be able to sell hardware that is ready to run Leopard and you and the buyer should be able to go to the Apple Store, pick up Snow Leopard, and install it. None of this is particularly legal according to Apple’s EULA, which is fine. When installing OS X on a PC is outlawed, only outlaws install OS X on a PC.
Apple should also be able to sell whatever they want. If they want to sell laptops for $9,000, God love ‘em. PCs for $19,000? A rebadge Apple Lisa for $100,000? Premium the heck out of the market. Who cares. It’s their business. There’s nothing stopping HP from putting a $1000 price tag on some of their laptops except the stupidity of racing to the bottom with netbooks and selling hardware for $300, thereby increasing customer price sensitivity.
However Pystar wants it both ways. They want to be a big hardware player – just like Apple – and they want to be countercultural revolutionaries. Their lawsuits are self-serving in that they simply state that they, too, want a piece of that lucrative premium PC pie and that all of their illegal actions aren’t so illegal. This is like trying to rob a rich man while boasting of your own business prowess – you do one or the other but to do both negates the value of both.
Anyway, Psystar is a goner. End of story.
I know it is a complete waste of time to even bother pointing this out, since it is a distinction that absolutely no one on the Internet ever seems to get. Nonetheless, there is absolutely nothing “illegal” about breaking an EULA. An EULA is not a law, statute, or regulation, it is at best a contract. You might be contractually obligated to follow the terms of the agreement (depending on the country and state/province where you live), but at most failure to do so opens you up to action in civil court, just like any other contract. In breaking the terms of an EULA, you have broken no law, therefore there is nothing “illegal” about it. You can’t be thrown in jail for breaking an EULA, you can’t even be fined for it. It is not a misdemeanor or felony. You are just in breach of contract, and if they want to, the other party can try and sue you, just like any party to any contract can, if they feel the contract has been breached. They then need to prove you agreed to the terms of the contract, and demonstrate actual damages from your failure to live up to the terms of the contract.
Violating the terms of an EULA is nothing like circumventing copy protection, or distributing copyrighted material you do not have the rights to. Those are actually illegal, as in they are breaking the law, and you can face criminal charges. There is nothing illegal about either purposely or inadvertently failing to live up to the terms of a contract, which is all an EULA is, in the territories that even recognize it as anything, which not all courts even do.
Well, you can’t “make money” breaking EULAs in the way Psystar is. I’m totally down with all of us breaking EULAs left and right for personal use but Psystar is trying something completely different.
Without a doubt making a profit off violations of an EULA makes it easier for the wronged party to prove damages, but it still isn’t “illegal.” I’m not saying they have the right to do what they are doing or anything. I’m just saying that Apple not liking what they are doing, and suing them into the ground, is not the same thing as there being a federal or state law against what they are doing. What they are doing is 100% legal, but it is also probably 100% actionable. The two are not opposites of the same scale.
In what aspect are you “pulling for Pystar?”
EULA is one issue, but changing the software and claiming it is the original Mac OS X has more merit for Apple to sue Psystar into oblivion. Will we hear if Psystar deleted evidence (Rudy claimed so in his deposition). I hope they did and get caught and disappear. Psystar is a disgrace to Latin business owners.
BTW, here is the infamous Rudy:
http://www.facebook.com/people/Rudy-Pedraza/1483737435
This case is now live at the AllRise online court. Cast your vote and join the debate – http://bit.ly/AllRise249
Not only should this whole case be dismissed already, but the lawyers representing Psystar should be disbarred. It’s this kind of frivolous litigation that keeps prices rising for everything in this country. These lawyers should be ashamed of themselves.