Psystar Apple Anti-trust Update

Sometime this week there should be news about the Apple / Psystar / Hewdell Packovo Suit countersuit

Apple is due to "Answer" Psystar's counter suit filed on August 28th  Psystars answer PDF (Groklaw article)

In case your sane and don't read 200 Apple RSS feeds a day.  A brief rundown.  Psystar is the company (by company I mean a couple of guys in their early 20s that are learning a lot right now) that started producing "Open Computers" back in April that run Mac OSX.  Apple, not pleased filed suit asking for all profits and all sold computers to be retrieved since their brand could be irretrievably damaged.  And then most recently Psystar countersued claiming that Apple is damaging consumers and them acting as a monopoly and Psystar should be able to produce computers that run Mac OSX.

In past comments we examined Psystar's argument,  but more importantly their motive (likely just greenmail, I know boring funded perhaps by their lawyer but we know not by them, They do not want to win) and a cool albeit unlikely conspiracy theory involving some of the worlds largest PC manufacturers (Hewdell Packovo).  

It would not be hyperbole to say that the face of the computer industry would change as a result  of a Psystar win in this suit however infinitesimally small the chance of that happening are.  In the mean time it is fun to follow along.

Psystar Lawyer Bill: Who Picks up the check?

Who is paying the bill for the Psystar Lawsuit on Apple?

We know Psystar is counter suing Apple  (Information Week).  Anyone can sue anyone for anything it does not mean much,  but lets imagine for a moment that there is money involved...

Ahhh the sound of otherwise boring topics become interesting when there are billion dollar companies involved.

Psystar opened with a lot of interest and press See here (Engadget)

But not much in the way of credibility or obvious financial backing   See Here  (Gizmodo) 

So Now they are countersuing Apple  a company with more than $20 billion in the bank.  So are they crazy or what?

There are very few truly crazy people in the world  (and even fewer really crazy people with enough money to sue Apple) so there is a rational explanation to all of this we just don't know what it is yet.  We can however guess.  Woo Hoo! 

First Who is NOT Paying the bill.

Logic says... Psystar is not footing the bill.  If Psystar is paying their attorney by the hour then they are betting on a 3 month old business built on OPIP  (other peoples Intellectual Property) But Here is the biggest reason Psystar is not betting Moms life savings on the Lawsuit.  

Should Psystar gets the outcome they have stated they want Then for the privilege of winning they get put out of business by the Hoard of other PC Manufacturers  waiting to fill the void. Do you think for a moment these guys are delusional enough to think that they can manufacture/distribute a computing device as cheaply or effectively as Dell, HP or Lenovo?.  

So who is.

Hewdell Packovo,  This would be crazy too but it does make sense from a "Follow the money" perspective.  Generic PC manufacturer with huge market share and a willingness to throw a few bucks (For them) at a longshot bet that could change the face of the PC Business.  Finds a way to fund the lawsuit.  Look conspiracies are almost never true, but when all other options are ruled out what remains MUST be the truth.

Lawyers

If the lawyers are doing this on contingency than this is like green mail.  Apple not really wanting to find out if there is a case here quivers in a meeting for about 30 seconds and pays out 10 million dollars and Psystar becomes a distant memory.  This is a very possible outcome however boring and dirty it is.  The risk here for Apple is the lawsuit is a repeatable occurrence so they may try and make the case big enough to make the Lawyers rethink their budget.

Is there someone else that could be paying the bill?

Interesting possibilities.  and no idea what is really gonna happen.  Just as an aside  if a Windows PC Manufacturer is a WinTel machine what is the Apple analog....

Inpple?  ApTel?   InOSX?  There must be more.

Note to Reader:  Writer has NO affiliation with anyone associated with any of the parties of this case, has not met anyone in a garage in Washington getting details of anything.  This is all supposition based on rumor an over active imagination combined with previous reporting by previous reporters.

Psystar, Hewdell Packovo, and Apple Antitrust

OK, 

So as we have covered in the past Here and Here.  There may be more to Psystar than a couple of guys in a garage making Mac Knockoffs.  Think about this for a second.  You have the wherewithal (read cash) to start a business selling computers.  The business model you have chosen his shall we say... High RISK.  and right on cue Apple comes along and sues you.  Now comes the interesting part.  You Lawyer up and sue them back...    I will not handicap the chances of the case.   

Now lets suppose that the cost of this lawsuit will cost an amount equal to your projected net earnings of the business for  the next five years (read first and only) of the firm.  Now comes the question that leads you down the primrose path of conspiracy...

WHY WHY WHY,

   Would you invest in a business with no hope of return for 5 years?  NO?  that makes you sane.  so what set of SANE circumstances would make Rudy Pedraza (CEO of Psystar see profile on Crunchbase) plan on losing money for the foreseeable future?    

What if Hewdell Packovo the not real in fact mythical computer company that produced close to half of all PC's in the world were looking for growth in a market segment that they could not currently compete?  And further what if Rudy Pedraza scion of underworld computer manufacturing were approached to start a company with Hewdell Packovo's' money and at no risk to himself in order to test the law and Apple's resolve around these very issues?

He sounds saner now.  

We don't know the the story of Psystar yet Rudy/Psystar could be sane and fighting the good fight with everything he has on principal but the usual outcome when a lawsuit is filed by a 150 billion dollar company is that the company folds.  

Hewdell Packovo, Psystar and Apple

Psystar Lawsuit update…

Recently I outlined a possible conspiracy theory that while unlikely is fun and well… its fun.

Link

Just for fun I think I will try and track the goings on of the lawsuit as it progresses.  As a little background Psystar came into existence in the first couple of weeks of April shipping “Open Computers” with Mac OSX Pre installed.  Initially they could not even promise system updates since the OSX Servers would not have recognized the computers as Macs.  That being solved they expanded their offerings to include servers.  

Apple apparently filed their Lawsuit on July 3 and since then there have been several extensions for hearings (most likely procedural) but they are currently scheduled to meet/have a hearing/beatdown, on July 28th.

Along the way and this feeds right into the single bullet theory that are my paranoid flailings, they hired Their Lawyers Carr & Farrell LINK Who Have apparently worked/fought with Apple in the past.

Just thinking about the nature of this case don’t you think that Hewdell Packovo even without the conspiracy theories is VERY interested in following the progress/outcome?

Information week thinks so

So What happens…..  

To Apples stock price if they lose…

To Psystar if they win?