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$399 Mac Clone Most Likely a Hoax

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the too-good-to-be-true-usually-is dept.

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."

4 of 233 comments (clear)

  1. You just won the Spanish Lottery! by Gat0r30y · · Score: 5, Informative

    Cnet has this article 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?

    --
    Prediction: The real iPhone killer is going to be sex robots from Japan. Think about it.
  2. Re:think people by Just+Some+Guy · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.

    --
    Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
  3. Re:Will it exist in 30 days by JohnWasser · · Score: 5, Informative

    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/

  4. Re:Vaporware? Hoax? by Planesdragon · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.)