Psystar is a mac clone maker that setup shop (what seemed to be) overnight. Over the last few months, countless stories and unethical accusations have been thrown at both Psystar and Apple. The latest in the on-going drama between Apple and Psystar? Psystar is going to countersue Apple claiming anticompetitive business practices.
On August 4th, MacBlogz reported that Colby Springer, one of the three attorneys from Carr & Ferrell was set to represent Psystar, and had hinted that the Mac clone maker would bring up antitrust issues if the case went to trial.
While Springer would not elaborate on legal strategies, he did speak in general terms about the case during a recent interview. “This case has been mischaracterized,” said Springer. “There are a lot more complicated issues than just copyright or trademark. There are more complex issues [than those] in respect to the end-user licensing agreement. And antitrust issues come into play, too.
“Miami-based Psystar, owned by Rudy Pedraza, will sue Apple under two federal laws designed to discourage monopolies and cartels, the Sherman Antitrust Act and the Clayton Antitrust Act, saying Apple’s tying of the Mac OS to Apple-labeled hardware is “an anticompetitive restrain of trade,” according to attorney Colby Springer of antitrust specialists Carr & Ferrell. Psystar is requesting that the court find Apple’s EULA void, and is asking for unspecified damages,” Cnet reports.
Springer additionally said that his firm has not filed any suits with the Federal Trade Commission or any other government agencies. The countersuit will be filed Tuesday afternoon in U.S. District Court of Northern California.
The core of the lawsuit lies here:
Psystar thinks that its OpenComputer products is shipped with an unmodified, fully licensed version of Mac OS X. The company thinks that they are simply leveraging open-source code including Apple OS, to enable a PC to run the Mac operating system. Psystar’s attorney’s are calling Apple’s allegations “misinformed and mischaracterized.”
Apple has not commented on the case. They have 30 days to respond to Psystar’s counter claim.
MacBlogz previously spoke with an Intellectual Properties Attorney and had him analyze a few statements from the fine print in Apple’s Software License Agreement for OS X, which ships with every single copy of Mac OS X that Apple sells. Check it out here (Attorney Analysis at the end).
Full article here.
