Mac Clone Maker Has Apple Seeing Red
Category: PrebuiltsPosted: April 15, 2008 04:14PM
Author: razor
When the second coming of Steve Jobs commenced at Apple, Mac clone manufacturers were systematically put out of business - Steve obviously doesn't like competition. So, it should come as no surprise that Apple is trying to take a bite out of upstart clone maker Psystar, who offered a hardware setup slightly more powerful than a Mac Mini for $399. Psystar would also include a legitimate copy of Apple's OSX Leopard for an additional $155. In total, that's a $395 discount from the price of a pre-configured Mac Mini, for those keeping score. Because assembling and selling a computer bundled with an OS - Apple or otherwise - isn't illegal, Apple's lawyers seemed destined to lose this fight - that is, until Psystar offered to pre-install OSX Leopard for its customers. Deep in Leopard's End User License Agreement, the law-dogs found what would be Apple's legal foothold - from the EULA: "This License allows you to install, use and run one (1) copy of the Apple Software on a single Apple-labeled computer at a time." Since Psystar's Mac clones aren't "Apple-labeled computers", their policy of pre-installation violates the user contract. In response to Apple's legal threats, Psystar appears ready to dig in its heels, and has vowed to challenge Apple's "illegal EULA".
Thanks to kingdingeling for the tip on this story.
