



It seems that Psystar wants to sell its hardware to consumers without Mac OS X installed. But the company wants customers to use its Rebel EFI to install the Mac operating system on the machines AFTER they've been purchased.
Rebel EFI is software that the company says will allow users to install operating systems of their choosing, including OS X, on their computers. It’s the software the company uses (used?) on its line of Mac clones. After downloading Rebel EFI, users insert a retail copy of the Mac OS X 10.6 (“Snow Leopard DVDâ€), follow the installation procedures and then install the application. The application automatically detects connected devices and downloads the appropriate drivers, according to Psystar.

The company says the Darwin Universal Boot Loader in Rebel EFI allows for theinstallation and management and up to six different operating systems. The software is regularly priced at US$89.99.
The Groklaw web site says that, according to Psystar, it has agreed to pay statutory damages for infringing Mac OS X 10.5 ("Leopard"), and Apple has agreed not to make them pay it until after the appeals. The Mac cloner claims that Apple will drop its trademark and state-law claims, but Groklaw is dubious. Very dubious.
The site says: "But Psystar still asks the court to leave Snow Leopard and Rebel EFI -- its new do-hickey that helps *you* infringe Apple's copyrights and violate its EULA and the DMCA -- out of this injunction, and that tells me that despite the spin Psystar is putting on this agreement, there is no deal as far as the big picture is concerned. This is just telling us that the parties have figured out a sum certain for how much Psystar owes Apple *so far*. This case is not over by a mile."
Here's Psystar's argument: In particular, whether sales of Rebel EFI are lawful or not depends on whether Psystar’s end users have a defense under 17 U.S.C. § 117. This issue has not been litigated in this case at all. Psystar’s end users do not engage in commercial use of Mac OS X and their use would qualify as use for 'internal purposes' even under the standards articulated by Apple in its summary-judgment briefing. If Psystar’s end users are protected by § 117, then Psystar cannot be violating the DMCA by selling Rebel EFI because Rebel EFI, as used by the end users, does not facilitate infringement. Apple correctly explains that this Court has power 'to restrain acts which are the same type or class as unlawful acts which the court has found to have been committed.' M. at 9. But Rebel EFI is a different kind of act altogether."



