Psystar accuses Apple of abusing copyright
Published: 11 Dec 2008 09:30 GMT
Court filings indicate that Psystar is dropping its argument — already rejected by a judge — that Apple is violating US antitrust laws, in favour of a new argument that Apple is abusing its copyright on Mac OS X to stifle competition.
The Mac clone maker is attempting to stay in business against long legal odds by trying to convince a court that Apple's licensing policies for Mac OS X are unfair and illegal.
The filing states: "Psystar alleges that, by virtue of Apple's leveraging of copyrights in the context of Apple's [end-user licence agreement], spurious litigation via the [Digital Millennium Copyright Act], and various other anti- and unfair competitive conduct, there is no viable alternative to the purchase and use of Apple-labelled computer hardware systems for users who wish to use the Mac OS, for a prospective buyer of the Mac OS, or for a user of an older version of the Mac OS."
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Psystar further argues that Apple includes code in Mac OS X that causes "kernel panic" if that operating system is installed on anything other than an Apple computer. Psystar knows this because it has to bypass those checks in order to get Mac OS running on its Open Computer.
The new complaint seeks to capitalise on the fact that other parties have successfully argued that copyright abuse can have the same effect as antitrust behaviour, even if the strict tests needed to assert antitrust conditions are not met.
Apple and Psystar will argue the merits of the new complaint on 15 January in San Francisco.
Credit: Psystar shifts course, says Apple abusing copyright from CNET News
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