Apple Puts the Kybosh on Clones

Mac OS X

Tech giant Apple has taken on some serious legal maneuvering to quash clones of its uber-popular Mac and laptops. A California judge recently agree with Apple that computer maker Pystar was infringing on their rights, violating copyrights and a whole bunch of other stuff by making Mac clones.

While Pystar had only been able to sell 728 of these computers Apple came down like a ton of bricks to stop them dead in their tracks and make an example of them. Just in case you think about bogarting Apple's technology you might want to consider the legal costs and $2.1 million payment Pystar is going to have to dish out for the "damage" they did to the Apple brand.

Apple is notorious for keeping Stalin-like control over its patents and proprietary technology. They develop their own hardware and software in house and only allow third party developers the honor of cranking out products after closely monitored review processes.

This has most recently reared its ugly head with iPhone app developers either walking away from projects or voicing their displeasure with the Apple approval process. While Apple dominates the smart phone market with its iPhone and over 100,000 plus apps up and coming platforms like Google's Android and the business go-to Black Berry are luring developers away. Fearing a mass exodus Apple has offered some clarity into their review process, however many developers scoff at progress updates as significant progress.

While getting pissed off that your brand new fart sound-making app is being delayed by Apple is one thing, jacking their hardware and software technology is something completely different. Pystar's computers are basically bad knockoffs of Macs and Macbooks that come preloaded with Apple's operating systems. They use a lot of fancy technological footwork to install the operating systems and circumvent copyright laws and Apple's own defense mechanisms.

In reaction to the California lawsuit Pystar filed their own lawsuit in Florida over the Snow Leopard issue. Apple has struck back by saying that the second lawsuit should be dismissed or rolled into the first. Apple's stance is that they "should not be required to file a new lawsuit to stop Pystar from infringing Apple's intellectual property each time Apple releases a new version of Mac OS X."

What is most shocking about all of this is that this company only sold 728 machines in all of 2009. While they projected to sell 470,000 this year and as many as 12 million in 2011 their sales fell drastically short of that. While I do think Apple has every right to stop people from stealing their technology it seems like a huge reaction to a company that took a year to sell as many computers that they sell in 40 minutes!

Apple does need to defend their technology but at some point if they want to become as ubiquitous as PCs they need to open up hardware and software development to more third party developers. If this means loosening the reigns and accepting less control over the process then that's what they may have to do.

For the time being though don't expect any big changes coming from Apple. They are kings of the mountain and aren't going to give anyone a shot at the crown any time soon.

Photo Credits: DeclanTM