Apple, Psystar reach partial settlement
updated 10:00 am EST, Tue December 1, 2009
Psystar aims to continue selling computers
Apple and Psystar have agreed to a partial settlement in their long-running legal battle, court documents show. Following a judgment against Psystar, and an Apple call for a permanent injunction, Psystar has agreed to pay an unspecified amount in damages once all appeals have been exhausted. In return, Apple is said to be dropping all trademark, trade-dress and state law claims, removing the need to go to trial.
Psystar had previously been facing the prospect of paying at least $2.1 million in damages and closing its business for good. The company may now be able to continue selling PCs, even if Mac OS X can no longer be bundled; it has submitted a motion to exclude Rebel EFI from any injunction. Although the software can install Mac OS X on PCs in violation of Apple's licensing agreement, Psystar argues that Rebel is sold separately from computers, and does not contain any non-Psystar code.
People buying future PCs from Psystar would thus be required to install Mac OS X on their own. The company suggests however that by extension, the change would make customers immune to Apple legal threats. "Psystar's end users do not engage in commercial use of Mac OS X and their use would qualify as use for 'internal purposes' even under the standards articulated by Apple in its summary-judgment briefing," a filing reads.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Aug 2006
huh
"Psystar's end users do not engage in commercial use of Mac OS X and their use would qualify as use for 'internal purposes' even under the standards articulated by Apple in its summary-judgment briefing,"
So not a single Shyster computer will ever be purchased by a business or a professional doing real work? Maybe that could be their new slogan. "For when you want a Mac but don't want to get any work done."