Attention Apple legal: Kuhgar tries selling Dell Mini 10v preloaded with Mac OS X Snow Leopard

Mac Daily News ^ | Friday, December 04, 2009 - 07:19 PM EST

[Swordmaker]

According to some outfit called Kuhgar, based in Hartland, Wisconsin, you can "own the functionality of a Mac at 1/4 the cost!"

It's surprising that they bother to add the disclaimer, "The statement has not endorsed by Apple or Dell." It's wholly unsurprising that it makes no grammatical sense.

Kuhgar's site states, "The Mini 10v is everything you want in a mobile companion and more. It may be small, but you’ll be surprised by all the fun features packed inside. Exclusively from Kuhgar, buy the Mini 10v preloaded with Mac OS X Snow Leopard! Have all functionality of a Mac at 1/4 of the price! This deal cannot be found anywhere else."

The site is festooned with Apple trademarks including the Apple logo itself. And you thought the guys behind Psystar were stupid; at least they didn't try selling unauthorized Mac clones days after a judge slapped a multi-million dollar judgement on an unauthorized Mac cloner.

Kuhgar's site is here.

MacDailyNews Take: Get ready, Kuhgar, Apple's likely to go all Psystar on your ass in 10, 9, 8...

MacDailyNews Note: The disclaimer at the very bottom of the site reads, in part, "We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone," which may hint at the possibility that this company is playing PR games and wants to get noticed by offering something that will grab attention, but that they have no intention of actually selling. We'll follow up on this if and when we find out more information.

[Swordmaker]

This company apparently wants to give Apple several million dollars just like Psystar is going to:

---

Meet the Mini 10v

The Mini 10v is everything you want in a mobile companion and more. It may be small, but you’ll be surprised by all the fun features packed inside. Exclusively from Kuhgar, buy the Mini 10v preloaded with Mac OS X Snow Leopard! Have all functionality of a Mac at 1/4 of the price! This deal cannot be found anywhere else.

• Be productive with a keyboard 92% the size of a traditional laptop keyboard.
• Enjoy a beautiful view with a seamless display surface1 and 16:9 aspect ratio.
• Stay connected with advanced wireless options.
• Navigate like a pro with optional built-in GPS3.
• A 160gb hard drive that can hold up to 71,000 photos and 62,000 songs.
• Connect with friends and family with the built-in webcam.
• The 10v only weights 2.6lbs and is 1.1" thick. No more weighing you down.
• Trek far and wide with the 3 cell lithium-ion battery. Holds around 7 hours of charge with OS X.
• This offer only comes in black. Other colors available at an additional cost.

System Specification and What's Included with Your Purchase

• Dell Inspiron Mini 10v Netbook
• Genuine Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard
• Microsoft Windows XP SP3 (included at no additional charge)
• Intel® Atom Processor® N270 (1.6GHz/533Mhz FSB/512K cache)
• 160GB, 2.5inch, 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
• Wireless 802.11g (1397) Mini Card
• 24WHr Lithium-Ion Battery (3-cell)
• 1Yr Ltd Warranty and Mail-In Service Direct from Dell
• Obsidian Black (Blue May Be Substituted)
• 10.1" Widescreen Display (1024x600)
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 950
• 1GB DDR2 SDRAM
• Integrated 1.3M Pixel Webcam
• Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 9
• Obsidian Black (Blue May Be Substituted)

---

Kuhgar, pronounced "Cougar" has a fairly non-functional website of its own, separate from its site selling the illegal Dell with OS X installed, that claims a history from 2005 selling computers under $299 with pictures including Sony Vaio's, Apple MacBook Pros, etc., however, their product page doesn't load.

I smell the odor of scam... strongly. Note that the image of the OS X box is NOT that of Snow Leopard but only Leopard... but they are using Apple's Trade Marks and Trade Dress freely... a violation of both... as well as violating the Apple's copyrights.n There's a good chance you send your money and you will get nothing back... but if you do, there's an even better chance that Apple will be suing Kuhgar for everything they've got.

[Swordmaker]

Psystar has just agreed to pay Apple $2.7 million for their stupidity in selling unauthorized Mac clones... and not a week later we have some "Me, too! I want to pay Apple, too! Here, over here! Me, too!" dumkopffs have volunteered to be next! PING!

Stupid Mac cloners Ping!

If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.

[Swordmaker]

Is this the cousin, Dennis? Whoever it is, he apparently is stupid enough...

[montag813]

F—k Apple. And forget this company. Is it POSSIBLE to do this DIY? If so, how? Links?

[Swordmaker]

Is it POSSIBLE to do this DIY? If so, how? Links?

Of course it is.

Is it legal? No.

But Apple won't stop you unless you start to make them and sell them at retail.

Links:

OSX86 project

Dell Mini 10 and Mini 10V

Apple Mac OS X.6 Snow Leopard Box Set

[skinkinthegrass]

thanks, for the info.

[Wayne07]

How is a DIY install of OS X (purchased) on a Dell not legal?

[Swordmaker]

How is a DIY install of OS X (purchased) on a Dell not legal?

Contrary to your assertion, you would not have purchased OS X because Apple does not sell the software of OS X. You have purchased permission, a license, to use Apple's property, OS X, under certain specified circumstances, one of which is that the upgrade copy of OS X accompanying that license can only be used on a single computer manufactured by Apple that already has a previous installation of an earlier version of OS X installed on it.

A computer manufactured by Dell does not meet that criteria specified in the license to allow you to legally install it, DIY or otherwise, on that computer because it is neither manufactured by Apple nor does it have a legally licensed earlier version of OS X installed on it to be upgraded. Ergo, it is not legal to install... and doing so, voids your license. Apple would be within its rights to brick your computer and remove its property from your computer and erase any copies in your possession.

Contrary to what you may read from people who wish to believe that software is "sold," and that the "right of first sale" applies to software, it doesn't—because the software is not sold. The courts at both trial and appellate levels have upheld this interpretation of software user licensing. It is more akin to a rental in perpetuity, with title remaining with the copyright holder. Your rights, what you are allowed to do with it, are limited to what the owner of the copyright allows you to do until the copyright monopoly expires.

Some people point to the Lexmark ink case as though it were definitive... it's not because the ink is not software and was not copyrighted. Others point to the Autocad case... but that involved a case where a man bought the software, unopened at a garage sale, never installed it or read the Software License Agreement, and merely resold it to an end user through eBay, again, not germane to the issue at hand. Another involved the gift to Lauren Bacall of a copy of a movie she starred in without the usual licensing... but since there was no license, it was a sale and held so, again, not germane.

All of these cases were cited by Psystar in the recent Psystar copyright infringement case, justifying their installation of "purchased OS X" on non-Apple hardware, and were all shot down by the judge as irrelevant because they would still have been in violation of the Apple software license agreement... just as you would be if you installed OS X on the Dell.

[Swordmaker]

How is a DIY install of OS X (purchased) on a Dell not legal?

To give you an idea of just HOW illegal it is, Psystar Corporation has just agreed in a settlement after being found by Summary Judgement by a Federal Judge to have infringed Apple's copyrights AND violated the DMCA on OS X, to pay Apple $3,476.56 for each and every one of the 768 Psystar Open computers they made and sold for between $550 and $1500 each with OS X Leopard and Snow Leopard installed on them over the space of about 18 months.

Statutorily, the Judge could have imposed fines far greater... some copyright law experts estimated up to $70,000 per computer. Apple knew that given the state of Psystar's finances, there is very little chance of even getting the agreed settlement—merely stopping the infringement will probably have be enough satisfaction.

That settlement is irrespective of what Judge Alsup might levy as criminal fines for their willful violation of the provisions of the DMCA, in that they deliberately used countermeasures to get around encryption to install OS X on their computers... something the DMCA specifically prohibits.

[tubebender]

It says it comes with Win XP SP3?

[frankenMonkey]

From the website:

--------
December 5th, 2009 7:30am

It has recently come to our attention that installing the OS X software on anything but a Mac violates Apple's End User License Agreement. We received an anonymous email informing us of the legality issues which referenced the Psystar case and we definately don't want to recreate that case. It was never our intention to violate Apple's EULA in any way. In light of this, we have discontinued this offer.

Please send all correspondence to info@osxonapc.com
---------

How stupid can someone be?

[Swordmaker]

That’s what Dell sells it with in it’s default form for $279.

[goldstategop]

Its one thing for an individual to create a hackintosh. Its another thing altogether for a company to sell it. Both are illegal but in the former case Apple is not being harmed unless you try to resell it with Mac OSX running on it. But if you seek to sell Apple software on any other than an Apple laptop or desktop hardware, you're definitely violating not only the EULA terms but Apple's rights. They won't go after people doing a home project but they will definitely crack down are on any one breaching their protected trademark, copyrights and patents. Psystar learned a very costly lesson.

[TheBattman]

Now posted on their web site:

December 5th, 2009 7:30am

It has recently come to our attention that installing the OS X software on anything but a Mac violates Apple’s End User License Agreement. We received an anonymous email informing us of the legality issues which referenced the Psystar case and we definately don’t want to recreate that case. It was never our intention to violate Apple’s EULA in any way. In light of this, we have discontinued this offer.
Please send all correspondence to info@osxonapc.com