Jul 15

Mac Clones, Targeted

By allowing Mac OS X to run only on its own computers, Apple made a good choice for the business, but also created an opportunity for the clones to attack. No, we're not talking about Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones here. The interesting part is that we're not talking about Chinese clones, as it happens with the iPhone or the iPod, but ones that can be found right around the corner, in the sunny Florida! Now, let's make a short trip into the past, before moving on to the last events regarding the Mac clones, shall we?

This year, in early May, some eBay user going by the nickname of chris555 had the nerve to post an announcement with a desktop computer having Mac OS X preinstalled, going even cheaper than Psystar - about $400, compared to $550, for a Psystar Mac clone, as you can read in the Clones Attack article I wrote back then. Since that post was promptly removed from eBay, but Psystar didn't suddenly disappear from the market, Apple has recently decided to get rid of this problem. Obviously, we're talking about a lawsuit here!

On the 3rd of July, one day after Psystar announced its own modified Mac OS X 10.5.4 Leopard update for customers who previously purchased one of those unauthorized Mac clones, Apple filed a formal complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, and the reason is obvious - copyright infringement.

The entire battle is being fought in the shadows, it seems, since Apple didn't make any official statement yet, while a certain Robert from Psystar argued that Mac OS X's license agreement is violating the antitrust laws. "What if Microsoft said you could only install Windows on Dell computers? What if Honda said that, after you buy their car, you could only drive it on the roads they said you could?," said Robert. Could anyone blame him for not being right?