Psystar, the plucky Mac cloner in Doral, Fla,, has thrown down the gauntlet and countersued Apple. At a small press conference in the office of Psystar’s attorneys in Palo Alto, Calif., the lawyers said they have answered Apple’s original lawsuit filed July 3 and upped the ante by filing one of their own in a Northern California federal court.
The countersuit filed Tuesday alleges that Apple is in violation of the Sherman and Clayton antitrust acts. In particular, Psystar contends that Apple, by tying its Mac OS X operating system to Apple hardware, creates restraint of trade.
Citing Microsoft and Linux as examples, Psystar attorney Colby Springer of the antitrust law firm of Carr and Ferrell said these OS providers have no such restrictions on hardware.
Psystar President Rudy Pedraza affirmed that his company believes Mac OS X is a great operating system, but customers shouldn’t have to pay high hardware prices for what he termed “generic hardware.” Psystar maintains it is giving customers a hardware alternative to Apple’s Macintosh.
Psystar’s OpenPro Mac-compatible computer retails for about $1,600, half the cost of a similarly equipped Mac, while its entry-level Open Computer lists on the company’s Web site for about $550.
In its original lawsuit, Apple charged that Psystar was damaging its intellectual property in violation of the end-user license agreement (EULA) that states Mac OS X must be installed on Apple hardware only. Apple alleges that installation on unapproved hardware may cause problems and thereby diminish the reputation and worth of its operating system.
Apple’s suit also says Psystar was selling modified versions of Mac OS X Leopard on its white-box clones. Both Springer and Pedraza denied that Psystar modified any portion of Apple’s Mac OS X and underscored that every copy of Mac software sold is a legitimate license. Pedraza said all…