Apple serves a blow to Psystar in copyright infringement case

In a ruling, which dealt a blow to Psystar’s first-sale defense, Alsup determined that it has indeed infringed copyright law by selling Mac clones running Mac OS X. The judge also ruled that Psystar violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Alsup wrote in the ruling, "Psystar infringed Apple's exclusive right to create derivative works of Mac OS X. Specifically, it made three modifications: (1) replacing the Mac OS X bootloader with a different bootloader to enable an unauthorized copy of Mac OS X to run on Psystar's computers; (2) disabling and removing Apple kernel extension files; and (3) adding non-Apple kernel extensions."

Apple had filed a case against Psystar in July last year, when it realized that Psystar was selling Mac OS X operating system on non-Apple machines. In the law suit, Apple alleged copyright violation, claiming that OS X End User License Agreement (EULA) prohibits the use of software in non-Apple hardware.

Judge overrules Psystar’s counterclaims
Though Psystar argued that it was protected by the first sale doctrine that allows the buyer of a copyright work to sell it without the permission of copyright holder, Alsup sidestepped the claim saying that the doctrine holds true for legal works, not "unauthorized copies” Psystar produced.

Further, the judge also denied Psystar the contention of fair use, saying that it did not comply with all the four factors that determine fair use.

The ruling did not order a permanent injunction on the works of Psystar as Apple has not sought one yet.

The summary judgment granted to Apple does not mean that the trial is over. A number of issues like breach of contract, trademark infringement, and trademark dilution still need to be resolved.

A hearing to determine remedies is scheduled for Dec. 14, and trial is expected to start in January.

Readers’ reactions
The Apple Psystar lawsuit is being discussed by many readers on blogs and online forums. Majority of them believe that the lawsuit is an attempt by Apple to curb companies like Psystar from benefiting from their efforts. It is also wants to secure its reputation of offering stable operating system.

A reader named Avi commented in engadget.com, “Apple is clearly fed up with companies like Psystar making a cheap buck off them, and Steve Jobs called up all the craziest ninja-lawyers he knows. But Psystar was stupid enough to do it in a way that they could be successfully prosecuted.”

Another reader named Mr. Pips posted his view on the same forum, “The real reason Apple doesn't want its OS to be run on systems it doesn't configure is because they want to maintain the image of having a stable OS. By controlling the hardware they control the stability. If they had to have drivers for 10,000 different pieces of hardware and configurations their OS would start to show its flaws.”

“Apple can only have there compatibility reputation if they don't allow outside influences in. They live in there litte box and I hope they stay there,” stated a reader named rationalreview on cnet news.