Psystar Apple Case Goes To Arbitration; Results May Be Secret

from the hopefully-not dept

Mon, Oct 20th 2008 9:32am — Mike Masnick

As we noted before there even was a lawsuit, a legal battle between Apple and Mac-clone maker Psystar could represent a key legal battle in determining the enforceability of certain provisions in an end user license agreement (EULA). And, indeed, the case was looking interesting, as Apple sued and Psystar hit back with antitrust charges. However, as a bunch of readers have sent in, it appears that the case has moved to "Alternative Dispute Resolution" (ADR). Basically, rather than going through a lawsuit, the two sides have agreed to first take it to an arbitrator, who may be able to work out a settlement. There are many, many good reasons to go this route (many of them have to do with saving money on the lawsuit), but the fear is that any settlement then isn't a binding legal precedent at all, and the actual results may even be kept secret. I can understand why both sides would do this, but it may deprive the world of a useful precedent.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: arbitration, clones, eula, settlement
Companies: apple, psystar

10 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Anonymous Coward, 20 Oct 2008 @ 12:08pm

God forbid they allow competition with their OS installed on computers that aren't overpriced. They may have to drop their margin down to only 85%.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 20 Oct 2008 @ 12:39pm

Re: #1
How are Apple computers overpriced? Have you priced comparably equipped machines from Dell, HP, Sony, Lenovo? Apple usually includes premium hardware in their configurations. I wouldn't say Apple is discounting parts, but their prices are pretty competitive when they first release a machine or issue price adjustments. Sometimes there are price/feature gaps between product cycles because other computer manufacturers have flexible pricing, but for the most part Apple isn't price gouging the fan-boys. And no, I don't own an Apple computer but I have priced them for some of my frieds who were less computer literate. The Apple OS seems easier for novice users and harder for Windows veterans.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 20 Oct 2008 @ 12:51pm

There is no way that Apple would want the Anti-Trust case to move forward. IBM was forced to tolerate clones of the IBM PC and I would imagine a similar fate would be in store for Apple were the case to heard.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
probaby, 20 Oct 2008 @ 1:43pm

Apple is overpriced
MacBook
2.0GHz
Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB DDR3 Memory
160GB hard drive
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics

Free Shipping
$1,299.00
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/family/macbook?mco=MTE3MjA

Acer Aspire Laptop
Model: AS5735-4624
Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core processor T3200 2.0GHz
2GB DDR2 memory;
160GB hard drive
Intel� Graphics Media Accelerator 4500M
$499.99
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9052945&type=product&id=121801 2528210

Need I say more?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward #42, 20 Oct 2008 @ 1:54pm

Re: Re: #1
Premium hardware? Yeah, right. Marginal hardware with a premium price maybe. As for pricing, yes, I have compared some other models. Let's take this one for example:

New 13-inch Apple MacBook (base config)

13.3-inch LCD panel, 1200x800 res
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz
2GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM
160GB hard drive
SuperDrive 8X dual-layer DVD burner
nVidia GeForce 9400M graphics, 256MB shared memory

Total Price: $1299

Dell Studio 15 (base config)

15.4-inch LCD panel, 1280x800 res
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz
2GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM
250GB hard drive
8X dual-layer DVD burner
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3450 graphics with 256MB shared memory
Sound Blaster Audigy Advanced HD

Total Price: $749

Okay, so what we have here is a laptop with a bigger screen, bigger hard drive, comparable graphics, slightly slower memory (although most typical users will not notice the difference), and better sound. And it's almost half the cost of the MacBook. Btw, the 15-inch MacBook Pro starts at $1999. Um, yeah, WAAAAY overpriced. Plus, if you want to run Windows via Bootcamp, for gaming or something, you'll have to shell out for a license of Windows on top of the price of the Mac. And if I went with the $1299 price as the spending limit on the Dell, I could easily put the Mac to shame feature-wise.

I'm willing to bet that a good chunk of the extra $550 you pay goes towards that expensive aluminum brick milling, just so you can save a few screws that would cost mere pennies. If I ever find myself desperately needing to use the Mac OS, I'll probably build my own $400-500 box and crack OS X to run on it. I refuse to waste money on ridiculously overpriced hardware.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
GanzHimself, 20 Oct 2008 @ 2:16pm

Up until recently, the MacBook was using the Intel X3100 on-board video... Not exactly what I would call "premium" as I have the EXACT same chip in my sub $599 Dell Inspiron 1525.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 20 Oct 2008 @ 7:14pm

The best campaign ad ever!
Oh Dear!

How did this link get in here?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Sos, 20 Oct 2008 @ 11:41pm

Value
From the other posts it seems PC laptops are cheaper than Macs, yet people still buy Macs. Must be some other value in there...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
TD Reader, 21 Oct 2008 @ 7:27am

Show me a PC with an 8-core processor. Oh, wait, there aren't any. But 8-core processors come standard on a Mac Pro. And I noticed that not one of the above comparisons uses systems with absolutely identical components, name brand and everything, which would be the only truly objective means of comparison.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 21 Oct 2008 @ 9:11am

Re:
Show me a PC with an 8-core processor.

They're coming, although I have no idea who needs an 8 core desktop:

http://www.hexus.tv/show/2008/01/Intel_reveals_overclockable_8-core_desktop_SKULLTRAIL_s ystem/

http://www.engadget.com/2007/05/19/8-core-nextdimension-pc-stretches-the-definition-of-por table/

Looks like Apple is definitely ahead in the 8 core marketplace. Which is... huge? If people are demanding 8 core desktops, they will be there.

And are you seriously saying the differences in components between the MacBook and the Acer listed above are worth $700? It's almost 2 1/2 times as expensive! I could get a laptop, a desktop, and a big monitor for the price of the MacBook. If you're rational at all, I think you would have to conclude that the value lies elsewhere as someone else posted. We could argue about whether it's in the case design, the OS, the support, or the brand name, but it's pretty clear to me it's not in the components. I considered going out and getting a specs on a $1300 PC laptop, but something tells me you wouldn't be convinced by that either.
[ link to this | view in thread ]