Psystar files for bankruptcy, slowing Apple's legal case

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The company Psystar, infamous for selling Mac clones without Apple's permission, has recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Florida. The news comes from the Mac Observer, who believes that this recent event means that those backing Psystar financially have now changed their mind, indicating that they believe Apple is the winner here.

Psystar has been in court with Apple for a bit short of a year now, after the company accused the Cupertino based computer maker of breaking anti-trust laws, though it seems possible that the case may be coming to an end relatively soon.

Apple had also hit Psystar back with a lawsuit claiming that it was in violation of the Mac OS X licensing agreement, and also that it was violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act via the methods it used to install OS X. The Florida court is holding a hearing on June 5, where the financial supporters behind Psystar will be revealed.

Since Psystar has filed for bankruptcy, it's possible that they may not be able to pay legal fees any longer, meaning that they may not have anyone to represent them in court and to defend against Apple. However, Chapter 11 bankruptcy still allows Psystar to operate under reorganization, so it remains to be seen what affect this news will have on their operations or their court case. Under Chapter 7, the company would be forced to close up shop.

Either way, it's not good news for them, but we're sure that Apple will be pleased with the results.

#1 Jugalator on 26 May 2009 - 22:06

It always seemed a bit risky to base your entire profile and brand name on that you're selling Mac compatible products, even along with OS X itself! I could better understand this move from a company that already did business in more areas of IT and that just happened to have the guts, and brains to simply call them Mac compatible. I mean, if you're willing to violate the OS X EULA by installing it on a "Mac compatible" computer, you're also the kind of guy that will pirate OS X on The Pirate Bay and install it yourself. It's not exactly the customer that cares, so a lower profile could work just as well, and I doubt Apple would have anything to say about building it with compatible hardware. Of course, it may still not be considered ethical, but I'm not talking about ethics here, just running a business with more safety. :-p

(3 replies) #2 Ledgem on 26 May 2009 - 22:21

Yet another case of "he with the most money wins" in the US justice system. It'd be nice to see this case end based on the technical merits of the law, rather than becase the defendant ran out of money.

#2.1 Sam Symons on 26 May 2009 - 22:23

Ledgem said,

It'd be nice to see this case end based on the technical merits of the law, rather than becase the defendant ran out of money.

I'm with you on that.

#2.2 Foub on 27 May 2009 - 00:02

Its the Golden Rule. He with the gold makes the rules.....

#2.3 kouhii00 on 27 May 2009 - 17:19

If you think that's unfair. You should look at divorce laws and you will see that it is the other way around.

#3 Raa on 27 May 2009 - 00:22

It's fairly normal. Huge corporates with buckets of cash will litigate against companies with not so much cash until they simply run out. It's happened before, and will happen again.

If you can't beat 'em, sue 'em repeatedly until they fold!

#4 Nose Nuggets on 27 May 2009 - 00:34

cant say i didn't see that one coming....

(3 replies) #5 Atlonite on 27 May 2009 - 04:28

Shame on Apple competition is what it's all about maybe they just don't like the fact that someone else is doing it better than them for alot less cash I really hope apple loose and the judge hands them their arses in a sling

#5.1 C_Guy on 27 May 2009 - 05:00

Of course they don't like that others do it better. That's why their "I'm a Mac / I'm a PC" ads have absolutely no factual backing.

#5.2 iamwhoiam on 27 May 2009 - 08:51

Atlonite said,

Others did it better back in the day and sales for Apple were declining. 'Tis why Mac clones were no longer allowed to be made.

#5.3 The_Decryptor on 27 May 2009 - 14:37

How was Pystar doing "better than them" considering they were taking Apple's OS, patching it, then reselling it?

#6 C_Guy on 27 May 2009 - 04:58

Well let's see here.

OS X is a niche market that Apple likes to maintain complete control over.

"Hackintosh" customers represent a very small portion of that niche market. This was a long shot even without the legal battles from Apple.

Hopefully lessons were learned but I doubt it.

(3 replies) #7 ishtar on 27 May 2009 - 09:03

Like I said I would like to see microsoft add something to their code to prevent the people from loading it on their apples ..boy I could just hear the apple fanboys now how dare microsoft do that ..

#7.1 vvtunes on 27 May 2009 - 11:07

Drop EFI support and change the EULA to 'only licensed for computers with a windows logo'

#7.2 testman on 27 May 2009 - 12:14

ishtar said,

That would be silly. Microsoft are making money allowing Windows to be installed on all capable computers, including Apple Macs. They'll never think about stopping Mac users from installing it.

#7.3 ishtar on 27 May 2009 - 20:57

Ya but if microsoft wanted to get under apples crawl all they need to do is something like that .

#8 smooth_criminal1990 on 27 May 2009 - 14:32

srsly, these anti-trust laws and the DMCA seem to be getting an awful lot of people/companies screwed these days...

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