Psystar To Sell 'Secret Sauce' Behind Mac Clones

Reseller isn't letting bankruptcy, Apple lawsuit, and lack of partners stand in way of licensing effort.

By Paul McDougall, InformationWeek
Oct. 5, 2009
URL: http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=220301096

Despite its embroilment in a copyright lawsuit with Apple, tiny Psystar said Monday that it plans on licensing its controversial Mac cloning technology to third parties.

Under the plan, Psystar will sell the rights to use its virtualization software—including an element it calls the Darwin Universal Boot Loader—to generic PC builders, whom Psystar will then "certify" as official partners.

Psystar said the latest version of its cloning technology is specifically engineered to allow so-called Wintel PCs to run the newest flavor of Apple's Mac OS.

"In an effort to spread the Snow Leopard experience to an ever expanding number of people, the licensing initiative will allow manufacturers to have their hardware Psystar certified and have their computers pre-loaded with our unique technology," Psystar said in a statement.

Psystar did not say whether it has struck any partnerships with hardware makers, but it's doubtful the company would be able to entice any reputable PC builders to join the initiative, at least for the time being.

Psystar filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year, and it's being sued by Apple for copyright violation.

Apple claims Psystar's Mac clones violate the terms of the copyright it holds over the Mac operating system. The case is being heard in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

Despite the suit, Psystar recently introduced its own Snow Leopard knock off. But without official support from Apple, purchasers could encounter glitches that may not be rectifiable.

Psystar, in fact, has warned customers they shouldn't attempt to upgrade previously purchased Psystar Mac clones to Snow Leopard, aka OS X 10.6, because "it may cause harm to your computer, resulting in possible re-installation of OS X 10.5 and a loss of data," according to the company.

Psystar said its virtualization system allows for the use of up to six different operating systems on a single PC and that the technology configures itself "automagically." Psystar operates from an industrial subdivision near Miami.

InformationWeek Analytics has published a guide to the business realities of virtualization. Download the report here (registration required).

German clone maker "not afraid" of Apple

By Zach Spear

The makers of the PearC brand of Mac clones say they're standing on solid legal ground in Germany and will withstand legal action from Apple.

A spokesman for HyperMegaNet UG, which sells the Intel-powered towers under the PearC brand with a copy of Mac OS X installed, said while the company hasn't heard from Apple Legal yet it is "awaiting some soon."

"First, we try to settle with Apple out of court," Dirk Bloessl told Computerworld in an e-mail. "But if necessary, we are not afraid of going to court with Apple."

On PearC's website, the FAQ section includes the question "Is the PearC legal?" The answer reads, "Yes. According to european laws Apples EULA is void."

The saber-rattling from HyperMegaNet comes while Apple and Florida-based cloner Psystar are engaged in a similar dispute over copyright and competition, but according to the German company, PearC does not violate Apple's copyright or EULA there.

"The German law says explicit[ly], that restrictions made after buying a product are not valid," Bloessl said. "So, because Apple's EULA can [only] be first read after buying and starting the setup, they are invalid in Germany."

That is, since the system has already been paid for and turned on before the End User License Agreement ever appears, Apple can't make "restrictions" on the use of the operating system, HyperMegaNet argues.

According to the clone maker's website, the PearC Starter "combines good performance with an appropriate power drain" for 599 euros, or roughly $773. The base configuration ships with a 2.5GHz Intel Pentium Dual Core, 250GB hard drive, 2GB of 1066MHz DDR2 memory, a 256MB GeForce 7200GS graphics card from NVIDIA, three FireWire 400 ports, and ten USB 2.0 ports.

Meanwhile, the PearC Advanced (799 euros or $1030) is the "allround computer" that ships with a 3.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 500GB hard drive, 4GB of memory, a 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400GS graphics card, and wireless. Available upgrade options include a Core 2 Quad processor, 1TB hard drive, 8GB of memory, a 1024GB NVIDIA GeForce 9800GTX Plus, a second hard drive up to 1TB that can be preinstalled with Vista Home Premium, XP Professional, or Vista Ultimate, and a writable Blu-Ray drive.

The site offers to ship to Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Spain, and the U.K.

Back in the United States, a case that began in July recently took a few steps forward with Psystar's filing of an amended complaint late last week.

However, the trial isn't expected to start for another nine months.

Mac clone maker wins legal round against Apple

Psystar can argue Apple abused copyright laws, judge rules

Gregg Keizer

February 8, 2009 (Computerworld) A federal judge last week ruled that Psystar Corp. can continue its countersuit against Apple Inc., giving the Mac clone maker a rare win in its seven-month-old battle with Apple.

He also hinted that if Psystar proves its allegations, others may then be free to sell computers with Mac OS X already installed.

In an order signed on Friday, U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup gave Psystar the go-ahead to amend its lawsuit against Apple. According to Alsup, Psystar may change that countersuit, which originally accused Apple of breaking antitrust laws, to instead ague that Apple has stretched copyright laws by tying the Mac operating system to its hardware.

Alsup had tossed Psystar's antitrust charges in November 2008 but left the door open to a modified complaint. Psystar took advantage of the opportunity and filed a revised lawsuit in mid-December. Apple, however, had hoped to quash Psystar's revision, saying that the Miami-based company "attempts to repackage its dismissed antitrust allegations under the guise of copyright misuse."

On Friday, Alsup said that Psystar could continue to press its once-dismissed case. "Psystar may well have a legitimate interest in establishing misuse [of copyright] independent of Apple's claims against it -- for example, to clarify the risks it confronts by marketing the products at issue in this case or others it may wish to develop," Alsup said in his ruling.

Apple started the legal wrangling in July when it said Psystar broke copyright and software-licensing laws by selling Intel-based computers with Mac OS X 10.5 preinstalled. Psystar has been selling machines equipped with Apple's operating system since April 2008.

Alsup also said that if Psystar proves that Apple abused copyright laws, some of Apple's charges against the company would be moot. He also seemed to say that that others would then be free to follow in Psystar's footsteps. "Moreover, if established, misuse would bar enforcement (for the period of misuse) not only as to defendants who are actually party to the challenged license but also as to potential defendants not themselves injured by the misuse who may have similar interests," said Alsup in his ruling.

The judge did not name the "potential defendants," but in previous filings, Apple has claimed that Psystar was not acting alone. "Persons other than Psystar are involved in Psystar's unlawful and improper activities described in this amended complaint," said Apple in a November filing. At the time, Apple only referred to those individuals or corporations as John Does 1 through 10.

Apple said it would reveal the names when it uncovered them.

Alsup also acknowledged Apple's argument that it had the right to decide how its software was licensed and used, but said that that would have to be decided as the case plays out. He did reject Psystar's attempt to include state unfair-competition charges in its countersuit, however.

Psystar has a week to submit its altered counterclaims, after which Apple must answer within 20 days. Alsup also told the two parties to get to work. "Both sides should be taking discovery and preparing themselves for trial and/or summary judgment," the judge concluded.

The case is currently scheduled to begin trial on Nov. 9.

Psystar introduces Blu-ray bag of hurt to its Mac clones

By Jacqui Cheng |

There may be an ongoing lawsuit between the two companies, but that's not stopping Mac clone maker Psystar from moving forward with new product plans without Apple's approval. The company proudly announced today that it is now shipping "Mac OS X-compatible PCs" with Blu-ray drives as well as NVIDIA 9800GT graphics cards. Why does anyone care? Psystar makes a point to say that it is introducing both of these technologies into Mac-compatible computers long before Apple has done so in its own machines.

You may remember earlier this month, when Steve Jobs said on stage that Blu-ray was a "bag of hurt" thanks to millions of licensing hoops. Apple wasn't ready to burden its users with a technology that may or may not be sticking around. Psystar president Rudy Pedraza completely disagrees, however. "Blu-ray has already won the format war. Not only is there fully functional and mature support for Blu-ray in other operating systems but you can now rent Blu-ray discs from almost any rental chain," Pedraza said in a statement. "Blu-ray has become pervasive technology that is being widely adopted by consumers everywhere."

Psystar points out that Apple has "chosen to delay support for Blu-ray," but customers looking for an OS X system with Blu-ray compatibility can now buy Psystar machines. Technically speaking, though, there are a handful of third-party Blu-ray drives made for the Mac that users can install into their Mac Pros, so it's not like a Psystar PC is the only way to get Blu-ray on a "Mac." You can really only use Toast 9 to burn to Blu-ray under the Mac, but what else can you do? It's not like Psystar is going to introduce magical OS support for Blu-ray under Leopard. Therefore, we say "BFD" to this announcement.