Psystar gets permanent injunction, legal warning from judge

December 16th, 2009

Psystar’s quixotic quest to “open” Mac OS X from the clutches of Apple has been stifled by a permanent injunction from a federal judge. The order bars the company from distributing computers with modified copies of Mac OS X, or in any way aiding or abetting anyone else to do so. Despite Psystar’s attempt to have Snow Leopard and its Rebel EFI software left out of any injunction, Judge Alsup included all future versions of Mac OS X as covered by the injunction, and warned Psystar that if it continues to sell Rebel EFI, it does so at its “own peril.”

After Apple made the switch to x86-based architecture, Psystar made waves by becoming the first company to purport to offer Mac OS X-compatible clones. After a surprisingly long four-month wait, Apple filed a lawsuit against Psystar for copyright, DCMA, trademark, and other violations. Though Psystar attempted a number of stall tactics and brazenly suggested that it was the champion of “choice” in “Mac OS X-capable hardware,” summary judgment was awarded in Apple’s favor on the copyright and DCMA issues. Psystar and Apple agreed to settle for $2.7 million and call it quits on the remaining issues, while Apple moved for a permanent injunction against Psystar on the question of copyright infringement.