Psystar's Bite Into Apple's Market Marked By Lawsuit, Countersuit

August 27, 2008 1:31 p.m. EST

Miami, FL (AHN) - Psystar will file a countersuit against Apple and respond to Apple's copyright violation lawsuit, Psystar owner Rudy Pedraza said Tuesday.

Pedraza charged that Apple is engaged in anticompetitive business practices and will file a lawsuit for violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act and the Clayton Antitrust Act.

He said the reply to Apple's lawsuit and the countersuit will be filed Tuesday afternoon at the U.S. District Court for Northern California.

At the center of the lawsuit is Psystar's OpenComputer Mac clone which has been available online since April. Pedraza insisted the clone has a full license, unmodified copy of Mac OS X. What Psystar did was make available open source-license code, including Apple's OS, for PCs to run using the Mac operating system as a more affordable hardware cost compared to Apple's.

The Psystar owner explained, quoted by CNET, "It's not that people don't want to use Mac OS, many people are open to the idea, but they're not used to spending an exorbitant amount of money on something that is essentially generic hardware."

Psystar's legal consultant for the case is Carr and Ferrell, which had previously battled with Apple in court and won a $10 million settlement. The law firm represented Burst.com, which charged Apple of violating its streaming media patents. A similar $60 million settlement from Microsoft was facilitated by Carr and Ferrell partner Robert Yorio in 2007 for Burst.com.