stories filed under: "clones"

Wed, Nov 19th 2008 3:03am

Filed Under:
antitrust, clones, eula

Judge Rejects Psystar's Antitrust Claims Against Apple

from the not-looking-good-for-psystar dept

Back when Apple first sued Psystar, we were afraid that the smaller company wouldn't have much of a legal leg to stand on, even if it claimed antitrust violations by Apple -- which it did. However, the judge in the case is apparently unconvinced, dismissing Psystar's counterclaims, noting that Psystar did not do a very good job establishing that Apple has a monopoly, noting that the relevant market is not just the Macintosh operating system. Psystar can file an amended complaint, but it seems unlikely that the judge is going to buy any antitrust claims. That means the lawsuit, assuming it continues, will probably focus on the enforceability of certain end user license agreements, which could be more interesting anyway.

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Legal Issues

by Mike Masnick

Mon, Oct 20th 2008 9:32am

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Filed Under:
arbitration, clones, eula, settlement

Companies:
apple, psystar

Permalink.

Psystar Apple Case Goes To Arbitration; Results May Be Secret

from the hopefully-not dept

As we noted before there even was a lawsuit, a legal battle between Apple and Mac-clone maker Psystar could represent a key legal battle in determining the enforceability of certain provisions in an end user license agreement (EULA). And, indeed, the case was looking interesting, as Apple sued and Psystar hit back with antitrust charges. However, as a bunch of readers have sent in, it appears that the case has moved to "Alternative Dispute Resolution" (ADR). Basically, rather than going through a lawsuit, the two sides have agreed to first take it to an arbitrator, who may be able to work out a settlement. There are many, many good reasons to go this route (many of them have to do with saving money on the lawsuit), but the fear is that any settlement then isn't a binding legal precedent at all, and the actual results may even be kept secret. I can understand why both sides would do this, but it may deprive the world of a useful precedent.

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Legal Issues

by Mike Masnick

Tue, Aug 5th 2008 6:08pm

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Filed Under:
antitrust, clones, eula

Companies:
apple, psystar

Permalink.

Psystar Looking To Charge Apple With Antitrust Violations

from the this-will-get-interesting dept

Once "unauthorized" Apple clone maker, Psystar, was sued by Apple, we fully expected it to challenge the legality of Apple's EULA (end user license agreement) which forbade putting the software on non-Apple hardware (a provision that even Apple has been known to ignore). The comments to our post suggested that a more likely option would be for Psystar to claim that Apple was violating antitrust laws in requiring the software and hardware be bundled that way.

Indeed, it looks like both of those predictions were correct. Psystar's response is likely to focus on both the legality of the EULA and whether or not Apple violated antitrust law. As predicted, this case may be very interesting to watch -- and the end result could be very important for many other companies in the tech space.

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Legal Issues

by Mike Masnick

Tue, Jul 15th 2008 1:21pm

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Filed Under:
clones, eula, macos

Companies:
apple, psystar

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Apple Finally Sues Psystar For Selling Mac Clones

from the bring-up-the-eula dept

Apple has finally sued clone maker Psystar. This was widely expected, so the most surprising part is that it took so long. Psystar, of course, is the company that came on the scene a few months back claiming to sell Apple's operating system on non-Apple hardware. At first, many people thought it was a hoax, but then Psystar actually started showing machines. Then the question turned to whether or not this is legal. While some say that this is almost certainly the end for Psystar, the company has insisted that what it's doing is perfectly legal. That may be quite debatable, but if this does go to court, it could put to the test the question of just how enforceable end user license agreements (EULAs) really are. Apple's EULA prevents buyers from putting its OS on a non-Apple machine -- but as we've pointed out, even Apple has been known to ignore this provision. While chances are Apple will prevail, if Psystar is willing to put up the fight, it has the potential to limit the power of click-through agreements. Update: This just gets better and better. Not only is Apple suing, but it's demanding that all Psystar machines that have already been sold need to be recalled.

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Judge Rejects Psystar's Antitrust Claims Against Apple

from the not-looking-good-for-psystar dept

Psystar Apple Case Goes To Arbitration; Results May Be Secret

from the hopefully-not dept

Psystar Looking To Charge Apple With Antitrust Violations

from the this-will-get-interesting dept

Apple Finally Sues Psystar For Selling Mac Clones

from the bring-up-the-eula dept

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