Psystar to Challenge Mac OS X EULA?
InformationWeek spoke to an employee of Psystar, the company responsible for the previously reported $399 Mac Clone. The employee known as "Robert" claims that they will challenge Apple's Mac OS X End User License Agreement (EULA) which specifically prohibits the installation of Mac OS X on non Apple-branded machines.
[Robert] also said Psystar believes Apple's prohibition against third-party installations might not hold up in court: "What if Honda said that, after you buy their car, you could only drive it on the roads they said you could?"
Robert said Psystar will continue to sell the OpenMac system, despite the fact that it appears to violate Apple's EULA. "We're not breaking any laws," he insisted.
Indeed, Apple's EULA agreement is not cast into law, but simply represents an implicit agreement ("contract") between the user and company. The enforceability of EULAs, however, has been a subject of much debate, and a true legal challenge would be very interesting. That being said, Robert's loose use of the word "monopoly" and car/road analogy does not necessarily inspire confidence in his legal prowess.
Of note, Psystar has changed the name of their Mac clone from "OpenMac" to "Open Computer", presumably due to trademark issues surrounding the use of the term "Mac".
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