$399 Mac Clone Most Likely a Hoax

timholman writes "According to Gizmodo, an investigation has shown that the $399 OpenMac is almost certainly vaporware, as is Psystar itself. The company's address has actually changed twice this week, according to its web page, and Psystar is no longer accepting credit card transactions. Too bad for those who may have already ordered an OpenMac."

You just won the Spanish Lottery!

[Gat0r30y]

Cnet has this article [news.com] which goes into a little more detail. From what I've gathered it seems they "just moved" to the new building, and got the address wrong the first time (this sort of explains why they put up 3 addresses in 2 days if you buy it). It seems they had to switch payment processing companies from Powerpay to PayPal, because of the rights infringement stuff. But I doubt PayPal's policy is going to be different. Whats next? Cashiers checks to Nigeria?

Re:Hoax?

[grahamd0]

Hoax -noun

1. something intended to deceive or defraud: The Piltdown man was a scientific hoax.

Scam -noun

1. a confidence game or other fraudulent scheme, esp. for making a quick profit; swindle.

It is both a scam and a hoax.

Re:Not really....

[Gm4n]

Don't click parent links, they're NOT friendly. After enough -1s, does your account get deleted?

Re:Vaporware? Hoax?

[26199]

Libel laws have a lot to do with it if you say someone is committing fraud and they aren't...

It is not a Mac, its a Hackintosh

[Orion Blastar]

that is a cheap PC that runs a pirated version of Mac OSX that can run on Non-Apple branded PCs. [osx86project.org]

Re:Will it exist in 30 days

[larry bagina]

When I had a merchant account for credit card billing, I had to close the charge batch within 48 hours and when I closed the batch I was agreeing that any physical goods would be shipped within 24 hours. They (cough, *he*) is (was) using paypal or similar, so they might have different rules.

Re:think people

[fishbowl]

>IANAL, but I believe that you can install OS X on anything you want (as long as you buy it).

Ok, wrong. Apple reserves all rights under copyright, that are not expressly granted by the software license.
The license is very specific, and in its very first specific clause:

A. This License allows you to install and use one copy of the Apple Software on a single Apple-labeled computer at a time.

You either agree to this license, or you have no right to install the software. Ok, you can put an "Apple" label on your computer. Then you're in worse trouble with a trademark infringement :-)

This is not some nebulous "shrink wrap license are not enforceable" concern. If *any* license that is granted as a result of copyright is valid (hint, GPL, creative commons, SCSL), then this one is.

Re:think people

[Just Some Guy]

You either agree to this license, or you have no right to install the software.

Bullshit. You bought it - you have the right to install it. I have old books that say you're not allowed to resell them, but that's BS too.

Ok, you can put an "Apple" label on your computer. Then you're in worse trouble with a trademark infringement :-)

Not if you put them on your own computer, you're not. Trademark only kicks in when you're trying to pass something off as something else. There's an Apple sticker on my wife's minivan, but we're clearly not infringing anything.

This is not some nebulous "shrink wrap license are not enforceable" concern. If *any* license that is granted as a result of copyright is valid (hint, GPL, creative commons, SCSL), then this one is.

Does Steve Jobs tuck you in at night or something? No. You're flat-out wrong. That is exactly one of those dumb EULA concerns, especially when you're trying to mingle it with copyright. As you bought the software, you have the legal right to use it so long as you're not installing it on a bunch of machines or distributing copies. It's kind of sad and scary that presumably rational people will try to argue otherwise.

Re:Will it exist in 30 days

[nurb432]

No Apple didn't use pre-orders for development, they used pre-orders to get the capital to go buy the parts. Development was already done.

I do remember the Altair add-on scam... that was pretty funny.

Re:think people

[HairyCanary]

The real issue is that you cannot install OSX on non-Apple hardware. And by cannot, I do not mean because Apple says no, I mean because it simply won't install. To make a Hackintosh you have to mix OSX together with OpenDarwin and stir. That's not the copy of OSX you can buy at the store. Trying to pass it off as a legal copy of Leopard is fraud. Do anything you want with *your own* copy of Leopard, but if you try to sell modified copies, Apple can and should sue.

Re:It is not a Mac, its a Hackintosh

[orionrune]

I've used Jas OS X for years... this guy is a dollar short and a year late... www.osx86project.org got a spare x86 pc lying around? build your own free openmac... just visit that site and read up.

Re:Will it exist in 30 days

[JohnWasser]

That was "World Power Systems" and I remember the incident well. They were caught when someone noticed that one of the important signals on the S-100 edge connector was not connected.

You can read about it here:
http://www.brouhaha.com/~eric/retrocomputing/wps/ [brouhaha.com]

Re:Vaporware? Hoax?

[Planesdragon]

Libel laws have a lot to do with it if you say someone is committing fraud and they aren't...

Libel's only possible if:

1: It's not true
2: A reasonable person wouldn't conclude that it is true.
3: A different reasonable person might believe that you're telling the truth.
4: Said person's disbelieve causes harm to the libelee.

Slander and Libel are pretty tough things, but like Assault, they require a common sense test. (Accidentally bumping into someone on a crowded street is not Assault, even if they scream their head off.)

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

It's in the wording too.

[EmbeddedJanitor]

If you make an incorrect assertion, then it could be libel: eg. say "It is vaporware and thus they are commiting fraud" and they are not.

Conjecture is a different matter: eg. saying "If it is vaporware and they are accepting money then they are commiting faud". Those "if"s make a big difference.

Re:Will it exist in 30 days

[AutoTheme]

No, they agreed to provide one and then bought it from someone else.

P-P-P-Powerbook!

[abbamouse]

At least THAT product [zug.com] was delivered.

Re:More like an inept business owner than a hoax

[LarsG]

I'd stay away from preinstalling. Even if Apple doesn't go after Psystar (since it is apparently falling of the cliff without the need of a helping hand from Apple), they're rather likely to go after anyone making this a successful business.

I know arguing about EULAs is a favourite pastime on /., but if they preinstall that will give Apple enough of an argument to get past preliminary hearings and go to a full trial. One would be on safer ground selling a pre-assembled PC bundled with Leopard still in shrinkwrap.

Not selling anymore?

[silentphate]

Just tried to order onc. This is the response... Error: 2-1-2-P-N--This transaction has been declined. Error: Failure in Processing the Payment (ps_authorize) PS. I was using a real credit card/address/etc.

Re:Will it exist in 30 days

[MilesAttacca]

That really is an interesting and exhaustive book. I got a copy for Christmas and just finished it a few weeks ago, and got drawn in each time I picked it up. My only complaints are that some people are introduced after they've been mentioned several times, there's a lot of repetitive phrasing, and apparently there's very little proofreading. (Oh, and I was hoping for more Amiga coverage.) That isn't enough to detract from the story, though. Before reading the book, I was an "Apple invented the PC and did it the best" fanboy, too. :P

Re:Vaporware? Hoax?

[TheoMurpse]

I think he was talking about when he just said that the company was being fraudulent, and he didn't want to be in trouble for libel (and that he knows his vague comment about "isn't that fraud?" doesn't necessarily sidestep libel laws).