Posted on 05/20/2009 10:33:33 PM PDT by Swordmaker
RussianMac is the latest company to release a Mac clone and test Apple's resolve to stop companies from selling its operating system.
On its Web site, RussianMac says that a full version of Mac OS X Leopard comes pre-installed on its computers. The company also confirms that the operating system is able to receive automatic system updates from Apple once installed.
This is where Apple seems to have the clone-makers over a barrel. Apple's Mac OS X End User License Agreement (EULA) clearly forbids anyone from installing the software on hardware not sold by Apple. This effectively closes the door on companies determined to make a Mac clone.
However, RussianMac maintains that it does not violate the terms of the EULA agreement because the operating system was purchased directly from Apple. That still doesn't get around the condition of installing it on an Apple-branded machine.
Legit or not, it is a popular argument. Germany-based PearC is using that defense to sell Mac clone computers in that country.
Of course, in the U.S., Psystar is the case everyone has heard about. The company first made headlines in April 2008 when it released its first Mac clone with Mac OS X pre-installed.
Apple filed a lawsuit against Psystar in July 2008, claiming the company was violating copyright and software licensing agreements.
The legal battle is ongoing between Psystar and Apple. The two are set to meet in court on November 9. Most legal experts expect Apple to ultimately prevail in the case.
Because the laws in each country are different, it's unclear whether Apple could be successful in Russia or Germany.
Our courts should have slapped Psystar down much faster when they started ignoring Trademarks, Copyrights, and intellectual property.
If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.
PING
Actually, EULA use term "Apple-labelled".
Any box with a label containing word "apple" or a picture of an apple conforms to this requirement.
Apple Inc. employs world-class designers and marketing people, solid engineeers but employs lousy lawyers.
It is worth repeating that Hackintosh builders actually purchase legitimate software from Apple.
I would think your apple would be red. A hammer and sickle would be a nice touch, seeing that’s where Russia seems to be heading back to.
Btw. when Apple started to market Macintosh, they had to pay royalty to McIntosh Laboratory to avoid litigation (different spelling but sounds the same.)
The Apple's idea of using the name Macintosh was an attempt to benefit from the McIntosh fame of building highest quality products.
Legal, but not very ethical.
That actually is false; it is pushed by the Hackintosh community but it is not legal. "Labeling" has legal definitions just as does "branding." The label that Apple is referring to is the actual company label that tells you the manufacturer's model, model number, serial number, etc. If a computer does NOT have an Apple label (not brand, picture of an Apple, or the word "Apple") then OS X may not be installed on it.
Here is an example of the Apple labelled label on a modern iMac:
And here is the legal, Apple-labelled MacBook Pro label:
That is what is meant by Apple-labelled computer.
Myth. Apple already had a reputation built on 8 years of building high quality products when the Macintosh was released. It was named Macintosh after the Macintosh variety of Apple.
05.20.09
By Mark Hachman
Move over, Psystar and PearC, and make room for FreedomPC and RussianMac.
All four companies share a common trait: all have designed, built, and are selling PCs with Mac OS X preinstalled, a practice that has embroiled the U.S.-based Psystar in an ongoing legal dispute with Apple. Overseas, however, Apple is subject to the vagaries of local laws.
FreedomPC and RussianMac differ in the look and feel of their offerings, however. FreedomPC's product page is studiously neutral, offering Mac OS X preinstalled for an 80-pound premium over a similar PC with the Linux-based Mandriva operating system preinstalled.
"Freedom PC is about... well, freedom. YOUR freedom," the Web site claims. "It's about giving you the CHOICE."
"Until now, if you wanted a reasonably priced PC, you had to use that operating system," FreedomPC adds. "If you wanted the other operating system, the one you heard it was easier to use and was more secure, you had to buy that hardware - and pay double, or even triple. And if you wanted to try out yet another alternative, you had to either build your own machine, or erase the OS you paid for and install the other."
RussianMac, by contrast, uses an Apple logo in its browser tab designation, as well as pictures of the Mac desktop.
RussianMac also offers one unique product, the MiniBook, an Asus netbook converted to run on OS X. RussianMac guarantees the "correct work," although the compoany notes that features like multitouch won't work. The listed price is 18,400 rubles, which is approximately $583.
RussianMac claims that the company only selects certain components designed to work with Mac OS X, and the peripheral hardware. Other methods are not disclosed, according to the company. All components and equipment are shipped with a three-to-five-year warranty.
An Apple representative did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
OSNews filed earlier reports on both RussianMac and FreedomPC.
Sorry, I misspelled the apple variety... it is spelled McIntosh... like the audio company.
Well..., I’m thinking that Apple is getting into the “chip making business” in order to make some specialized chips on Apple products, so that people are not able to simply install software on non-Apple hardware.
It would be impossible, then, for a company to sell an Apple-clone-type machine, even when using a retail-copy-disk of the operating system.
I think that is coming down the road...
By the way, there is some element of truth in the above statement... but Apple did not pay any royalties to McIntosh Laboratory to use the name for their computer. McIntosh relinquished the homophonic TradMarked name for use in computer products in 1982 at the request of Steve Jobs prior to the 1984 introduction of the Mac.
"November 14, 1982: Steve Jobs writes a letter requesting McIntosh Laboratory (www.mcintoshlabs.com) provide Apple a worldwide release for the name Macintosh for use in the computer industry. Jef Raskin's project had been code-named Macintosh since its inception in 1979, but when Apple attempted to trademark the name in 1982, the request was denied because it phonetically infringed on the trademark already owned by the high-end audio equipment manufacturer of Binghamton, New York. In his letter to Gordon Gow, president of McIntosh Labs, Mr. Jobs writes, "We have become very attached to the name Macintosh. Much like one's own child, our product has developed a very definite personality."">
“let a thousand flowers bloom”
Mao Tse Tung
Why am I not surprised you would be quoting communists?
Why am I not surprised you would be quoting communists?
It was only a hundred flowers anyway.
LOL
You posted that iMac photo on this thread... it says made in China. Apple’s Chinese partners should run an after hours assembly line and ship some to pearPC and RussMac to sell. Jobs would blow a gasket and be sent back on his health hiatus
thousand
百 = bǎi = 100
千 = qiān = 1000
more google hits for thousand and........thousand was how i always heard it for years decades..... pin yin does not matter
If Apple was smart they’d just start selling the OS to others and offer an update subscription service. Software is much more profitable than hardware.
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