Hackintosh maker files for bankruptcy
Catch a falling Psystar
Macintosh clone vendor Psystar has filed for bankruptcy protection in Florida, effectively stalling its legal battle with Apple while the company tries to resuscitate its coffers.
The clonemaker petitioned for Chapter 11 protection on Thursday in US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Court documents indicate Psystar owes at least $259,356 in debt to a number of unsecured, non-priority individuals and companies.
The Doral, Florida firm blames the weakened economy for its financial woes, claiming the financial climate has caused its creditors to "tighten up their terms" and become "more demanding for immediate payment."
Psystar also claims the economy has hobbled the inventories of lower-cost hardware vendors and forced it to pay higher prices for PC kit to fulfill orders in a timely manner.
Furthermore, the company asserts that if it's granted protection from creditors under Chapter 11, Psystar possesses unnamed "valuable intellectual property" that will enable it to emerge from bankruptcy with a "strong and effective plan to make an increasingly higher profit."
There appears to be no mention of Psystar's headlining legal fight with Apple contributing to its financial problems. But under US bankruptcy protection laws, all cases against the company would be put on hold until restructuring is sorted out.
Folks closely following Apple's case against Psystar are now drooling over the prospect of Psystar's funders being publicly exposed in upcoming bankruptcy court proceedings.
Apple's legal briefs against Psystar have asserted the clonemaker may be in secret cahoots with "John Doe" third-party supporters. The claim could be referring to something as simple as third-party coders working to break Apple's copy protection — but many prefer to go the conspiracy route with their conjecture.
Because Psystar seemingly appeared out of nowhere in early 2008, some have hypothesized the company is being bankrolled by Apple's rivals (namely, Microsoft) to undermine its intellectual property rights.
The Florida court will hold Psystar's first bankruptcy hearing on June 5. Keep an ear out for the telltale thunder of Redmond's black helicopters swooping into the Sunshine state. ®
COMMENTS
Not much of a bankroll
If they are being bankrolled by somebody big how come they've filed for chapter 11 with only a quarter of a million bucks worth of debt. If they had big backers that would be peanuts to them.
Apples IP
There really shouldn't be much of a problem getting around apples IP claims. All you need to do is hire an engineer old enough to remember how it all went together in the first place and specialized in the design of said systems. Remember when reverse engineering systems was something to be proud of putting on your resume instead of something that could potentially land you in legal trouble?? I do ;) [it was still ethically questionable, but I ignore those questions]. Ad this company (or any company really) could easily bail them self's out of whatever hole they are in by resurrecting some ideas that were not really practical 30 years ago, but are perfectly doable now..
If all you want is some MAC clone, let me select a team of hardware and software designers and I will pop one out for you in 6 months. [that's 6 month to prototype, not to production]
bankrolled?
Probably. How else would Psystar (a company that's claimed to the courts that they don't have any accounts or even bank statements to disclose!) get the expensive lawyers they have. But who pays the lawyers fee is conveniently a matter of client confidentiality. Most likely a Chinese PC maker with no high margin business alongside its PC hardware offering.
@Iam Me: Not likely to be bankrolled by MS. Why would MS want competition for OEM OS supply? And no, they couldn't buy Apple several times over. Apple even has more cash than MS, and none of that funky nonexistent "goodwill" stuff so prominent in the balance sheets of MS, HP etc.
@Jimmy Floyd: Sorry to hear about Apple forcing hardware on you. How does that work exactly?
Apple doesn't actually hinder hackintosh activity if its not for commercial gain, although it is deprecated, and outside the license terms. Be grateful there's no serialisation, compulsory registration, or product activation for OSX. Much greater benefits if you want to "try" OSX on your standard PC hardware than Microsoft's Windows Product Activation if you want to "try" Vista. So, Apple haters, be careful what you wish for when you say OSX should be legally installable on your PC.
The real issue Apple is defending here is not the existence of tinpot cottage industries turning out Mac clones round the world, it's ensuring the big players can't bundle OSX on their HP's, Dells, Acers etc.
Re: Too bad
"I'd really like to see someone force Apple to open OSX up to installs on non-Apple hardware."
People keep forgetting Apple is in the business of selling hardware, not software. They develop their own software to make their hardware work better, not the other way round.
It's a bit like saying you really like HP's printer drivers but don't like their printers, so you're demanding that HP sell you a version of the drivers to use with a Canon or Epson. It ain't gonna happen.
One door closes, another door opens.
http://www.osnews.com/story/21564/Building_a_Hackintosh_Apple_Can_t_Sue_You_
