Free Republic

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has sided with Apple in the company's bitter lawsuit against Psystar. Circuit Judge Mary Schroeder ruled yesterday that Psystar's Mac clones violated copyrights Apple holds, and the ban on sales will be upheld. According to Schroeder, Psystar specifically violated copyrights Apple holds in Mac OS X, and said that the U.S. District Court's ruling in favor of Apple was just. Psystar first started selling its Mac clones in April 2008 under the name "OpenMac" after buying copies of Mac OS X on the market and then installing them on its own...

Mac clone maker's lawyer says another attorney misquoted; Psystar not out of business, but site is down Although Mac clone maker Psystar has turned off the lights at its Web site, the firm is not shutting down permanently, the company's lawyer said today.Contrary to a report on Thursday by the Dow Jones Newswire (subscription required), Psystar is not shutting down for good, said K.A.D. Camara, of the Houston, Texas firm Camara & Sibley LLP. Camara represents Psystar in a lawsuit the company filed in a Miami federal court last August that accuses Apple of violating several antitrust laws.

After months of contentious litigation, Judge Alsup today granted Apple’s request for a permanent injunction and ruled that the injunction encompasses not only includes Snow Leopard, but Psystar’s Rebel EFI software as well. As a quick reminder, Rebel EFI is a piece of downloadable software available on Psystar’s website that allows users to install OS X onto non-Apple hardware. The order notes that Psystar has until December 31, 2009 to cease all infringing activities, with the Court specifically stating that Psystar “must immediately begin this process, and take the quickest path to compliance; thus, if compliance can be achieved within...

Apple is set to files its brief on Monday detailing the damages and injunction details it wants to see imposed on Psystar for building and selling unauthorized Mac clones. Apple filed a lawsuit against Psystar in Northern California several months ago claiming the small PC maker was violating the Mac OS X end user license agreement, and that it was violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act with the steps it used to install the Mac operating system on PCs. Psystar claimed that it should be allowed to build and sell PCs with Mac OS X pre-installed and that Apple is...

An in-depth look at Psystar’s legal defeat at the hands of Apple Wed, Nov 18, 2009 Last Friday, Judge Alsup dealt Psystar a death blow when it granted Apple’s motion for Summary Judgment while at the same time denying Psystar’s own motion for Summary Judgment.  Summary Judgment is essentially when a Judge dismisses an entire case, or specific issues in a case, because it lacks any evidentiary support. Now that we’ve had time to fully pour over Judge Alsup’s 16-page decision, we’re going to break down much the reasoning behind Alsup’s ruling and pinpoint exactly why Psystar’s legal arguments failed...

Psystar attorney leaves Apple teamPsystar shuffled its defense this week as one of the attorneys defending the Mac clone builder left its team. A filing has revealed that lawfirm Welker and Rosario's co-founder, David Welker, exited the team for unknown reasons but said he only played a small role in defending against Apple's copyright accusations. The defense member was responsible for filing some of Psystar's more recent filings, including those demanding Apple executives re-appear as witnesses, but said he neither worked with Psystar first-hand nor received pay for his efforts. His duties will be taken on by Eugene Action, who...

Psystar reasserted its claims that Leopard and Snow Leopard copyright-related issues should be dealt with in court independently in its response to Apple's motion to dismiss the unauthorized Mac clone maker's recent case filing in Florida. Apple and Psystar have been battling in U.S. District Court in California over whether or not the PC maker can build and sell Mac clones for months, but the clone maker added a new wrinkle to the case when it started the legal process over again with a new filing in Florida. Psystar filed a new lawsuit against Apple in Florida over Mac OS...

Apple has followed the judge's direction and filed a motion to dismiss or enjoin prosecution [PDF] of Psystar's Florida action. There is no reason, it argues, to have the same issues litigated in two courtrooms 3,000 miles away from each other simultaneously. It also asks to reopen limited discovery for 45-60 days, just about the issue of the technical method Psystar uses to install Snow Leopard on its non-Apple hardware. Apple asked for this at the recent hearing, and the judge said to officially file a motion, so this is it. Apple doesn't mind if that means putting off the...

Charges $70 for new OS, warns existing customers not to upgrade older clones Computerworld - Mac clone maker Psystar isn't waiting for a federal judge to give it the green light to sell systems with Apple's new Snow Leopard operating system, according to the company's Web site. "We support Snow Leopard on all new Psystar machines and we're already taking orders for computers with the latest OS from Apple [that] will begin to ship next week," said Psystar in an anonymous posting on its company blog Monday. Psystar's order page lists Snow Leopard as a $69.99 optional upgrade from the...

Psystar Hit with $5K Fine for Discovery Abuse August 25th, 2009 at 11:03 AM by Jeff Gamet Unauthorized Mac clone maker Psystar was slapped with a US$5,000 fine for discovery abuse, indicating the company's "guns blazin'" legal strategy may have misfired. The ruling came as part of Apple's case against the company for selling PCs with Mac OS X pre-installed. "The $5,000.00 penalty means that judge Alsup has found that Psystar has violated the rules of discovery," an attorney familiar with this type of case told The Mac Observer. "That indicates that Psystar is in trouble with the court. However,...

GROKLAW’S EXCELLENT TAKE ON THE RECENT PSYSTAR SHENANIGANS Monday, 24 August 2009 A great article on Groklaw about the Apple/Psystar case taking a “darker turn”. Even if you just read up to Psystar’s two reproduced letters, it’s a somehwat long post, but it’s excellent. The following quote struck me the most: I am starting to wonder, are weirdo lawsuits involving companies with nothing much to lose and claims and defenses that seem doomed from the start going to happen to *all* of Microsoft’s competitors?… Every tech site on the planet is writing about Apple and Psystar, but in my view...

Howdy folks, I apologize for the vanity post, but My Son needs a Mac for art school and I was wondering if any of you are in graphic arts and if so... Does any one have a Psystar? will it do the work that is necessary? It's running Mac OS X Leopard v10.5 Also, do you think there could be issue's in the future due to the Apple/Psystar court squabbles?

Psystar's legal battle against Apple over building and selling Mac clones took a turn for the worse when Apple filed a brief with the court accusing the company of spoliation, or intentionally destroying evidence. If Apple's accusations prove to be true, this could potentially ruin the company's chance of moving forward with its defense. According to Apple's brief, it has documented specific instances where Psystar intentionally deleted the code it uses to install Mac OS X on PCs, and that company Principals and employees were made aware of their requirement to preserve evidence. "Yet, as admitted by [Psystar CEO] Mr....

Psystar, the company Apple is suing for allegedly building and selling Mac clones without authorization, has been granted its motion to dismiss its Chapter 11 bankruptcy case in Florida. The Judge overseeing the case, however, included the stipulation that if Psystar files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection Apple's case against the company in California will not be subject to an automatic stay. According to the court order, Psystar has also been blocked from filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for six months, and Judge Mark, the Judge overseeing the company's bankruptcy case, is maintaining jurisdiction over the case so he...

Mac clone maker begs out of Chapter 11 after payment plan with its legal team falls throughPsystar, the Mac clone maker embroiled in a legal dispute with Apple, asked a federal judge last week to dismiss its bankruptcy case, saying that it had been unable to reach a payment agreement with its law firm. At the same time, Psystar said in a letter to customers that it is "again ready to battle Goliath," a reference to Apple, as it announced a new clone powered by Intel's Xeon quad-core "Nehalem" processor. In the motion submitted last Thursday, Psystar asked a Miami...

Robert A. Mark, the Judge overseeing Psystar's bankruptcy in Florida, ordered a hearing on Apple's Motion For Relief From Stay for June 17. Apple filed the motion in hopes of quickly resuming its case against Psystar for selling PCs with Mac OS X pre-installed. Apple's legal battle was temporarily stalled when Psystar filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection because of mounting legal expenses. Judge Mark would likely lift the stay eventually, but Apple is hoping to expedite the process with its motion and avoid losing more time while waiting for the bankruptcy proceedings to complete. Psystar is still selling PCs...

Apple filed a motion with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Miami on Friday requesting a modification of the stay that is preventing it from moving forward with its case against Psystar in the Northern District Court in California. Apple's case against Psystar for selling PCs with Mac OS X preinstalled has been on hold ever since the PC maker filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection at the end of May. Psystar's bankruptcy filing put Apple's case in northern California temporarily on hold because all legal actions involving the PC maker are automatically stalled while the bankruptcy court begins its proceedings....

Unauthorized Mac clone maker Psystar has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Florida, temporarily slowing down Apple's legal case against it. The filing may be an indication that the company's financial backers have pulled out, signaling they see Apple as the clear winner in court. The bankruptcy documents were filed with the Federal Courts in Florida on Thursday, and Apple's legal team was most likely made aware of the situation over the Memorial Day weekend. The Florida court will hold a hearing on June 5 where Psystar's equity creditors will be revealed -- which means if there have been...

Mac clone maker says Apple's hold on Mac OS X lets it gouge consumers. The Mac clone maker that has countered an Apple Inc. lawsuit with one of its own said that forcing the California computer maker to undo an illegal tie between the Mac OS X operating system and its hardware would force it to drop prices, according to court documents filed Thursday. Psystar Corp., a Doral, Fla.-based seller of Intel-based computers, also charged that Apple enjoys "monopoly power" from the licensing link it's forged between its hardware and the Mac OS. In its response to an Apple lawsuit...