November 19, 2008 by James Oliver
Apple have recorded another victory against the numerous small computer makers intent on building and selling machines based on Apple software. Yesterday a judge ruled against a small computer maker who had tried to take Apple to court claiming that the company is a monopoly because of its rigorous control of who can make and design computers using Mac OS, their operating system.
Psystar Ltd, the company that brought the suit, made the point that allowing only machines carrying the Apple logo to use the software was illegally linking the sale of one product (the computer) to the other (the software). This obviously doesn’t happen with Windows or Linux which can be installed on any device you like.
Unfortunately for Psystar, U.S. District Judge William Alsup disagreed. In a decision that covered 16 pages, he ruled that since apple’s products don’t themselves dominate the market, Apple cannot be a monopoly simply by controlling use of their software. Essentially he was pointing out that other operating systems exist, they don’t have to use Apple’s.
A counter claim from Apple is still ongoing after Apple sued Psystar for allegedly producing Apple ‘clones’, a violation of the Mac OS terms of use. Tuesday’s decision would appear to make the result of that suit something close to a foregone conclusion.
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