Originally Posted by Herk

I can't wait to see how this plays out. Either way, I think it will be good for Apple.

Originally Posted by Redlemon

How so? Willravel, I'm sure, will fill in the details, but back when Apple allowed clones, the company almost went under. Not fighting this clone will hurt their bottom line. Fighting this clone may make them look like dicks. I don't see a benefit to Apple either way.

Originally Posted by So exactly who or what is Psystar? We dig a little.. | Technology | Guardian Unlimited

We dig around the company that says it'll sell non-Apple kit loaded with Leopard. How did they move office in a matter of hours? And who *are* they?
April 15, 2008 7:02 PM

You'll have noticed the claims of Psystar that it will be selling an "OpenComputer" (smart, avoiding the use of the Apple trademark in the "OpenMac" name it previously used) that will, in effect, be an Apple clone.

But we thought we'd look further, because if the company's going to make these big claims about what it can do, why, that's interesting; but what sort of company is behind it?

The Psystar site talks a lot. OK. The site was registered in 2000, according to whois, but what's odd is that searches on Google and on Live.com don't turn up anything about the company before this week. Zip. Zero. Nada.

I called the Miami Chamber of Commerces and its Better Business Bureau. They've never heard of it.

I called the company. The automated system asked if I want Sales? Support? Human Resources? Let's have a laugh and call HR. No reply. (This was 11.45am their time.) Did I want to leave a message? Press the pound key when done. I did. "Error."

Call again - let's try Support this time. A man answers, doesn't give his name, and refers pretty much all questions to press@psystar.com. While he's on, why isn't there any reference to Psystar online before this week? "We're a small IT company, doing solutions anywhere from small office networks to enterprise-level networks." The company's latest product, he said, was a storage area network.

OK, so who are the clients? Why no mention in any forums or press releases of the wonderful work Psystar has done for these small and large businesses? Most people are delighted, after all, to pump out words about what they've done. But zero hits? "We were a local company with little to no presence on the web," he explained. Uh-huh. But the website has been around since 2000, and moved hosts in 2005.

He referred us again to the press email address. OK, did Psystar offer a 24-hour support line? (Even the teams in The Apprentice do that. For your laundry, no less.) "No." Oh. Were there many people doing support for Psystar? "I'm not support." But I thought... "I'm just answering the phones." Oh.

Sent an email to Psystar. No reply so far.

And then we thought we'd look closer at the location they're in. And that's where things got really strange.

The address had changed completely.

Earlier in the day, it was giving 10645 SW 112 St, Miami FL 33176. (Happily, I took a screenshot.)

And now, while I'd been writing this post, it's moved - to 10481 NW 28th St, Miami, FL 33172.

OK, that's got to be the weirdest thing I've ever seen in years of covering technology. The first address, on Google Maps, looks like your average row of suburban houses.

The second - new! - one looks far more office-y, or at least industrial.

But you know what's most interesting? Apple's complete silence on this. It hasn't said a word. I suspect that it's waiting to see if anything emerges from this. It hasn't stopped the Mac world working itself into a lather, poring over EULAs and talking about EFIs; it's just nobody seems to have bothered to pick up a phone and call.

But forgive me for being a bit sceptical, but isn't it far, far more important whether the company has been around, has a reputation, and is going to deliver a machine? Isn't it?

Originally Posted by willravel

Ha! It's a fake! Mac Rumors might be in trouble.

Originally Posted by willravel

I have yet to try Mac OS X on a non-Mac. I'd be curious to see how it's done and how well it compares to the real thing.

Originally Posted by ASU2003

I would say that 95% of the basic OS worked right away. There were some graphics things that weren't supported (external/internal display resolution of 1024x768 max), which is fine for my laptop because that is the max resolution, but not good for a 1080p LCD that I use as my computer monitor at home. Some video formats weren't supported out of the box, and a few other minor issues that I would hope wouldn't be there on an actual mac. I did enjoy using it, and my current Linux setup kind of resembles the file system and folder directories of a mac. I would look into buying a mac for my next computer if they can meet my long list of requirements (SSD, HDMI/DVI out, thin, wired network port, LED backlit display, 4+ hour battery,...)

My wireless card didn't work right away, but it was $20 to buy one that did.

Linux is working for me right now though. Although iTunes is a problem that Linux needs to figure out. There are alternatives, but there is nothing that matches what it can do.

Originally Posted by http://www.news.com/8301-13579_3-9921271-37.html?tag=newsmap

Psystar violated terms of merchant services agreement
Posted by Tom Krazit | 3 comments

The payment-processing merchant for Mac clone maker Psystar abruptly ended its relationship with the company Wednesday after it discovered what was for sale on Psystar's site.

Powerpay refused to process any more transactions for the Open Computer after learning what it was.
(Credit: Psystar)

Powerpay had been the payment processor for Psystar's online store until Wednesday, when it yanked its services from Psystar's Web site. That move sent the store offline for several hours midday Wednesday, halting sales of Psystar's Open Computer, which comes preinstalled with Mac OS X Leopard in violation of Apple's licensing agreement for its operating system.

Psystar posted a statement on its Web site Thursday explaining the downtime. "Midday yesterday our store was not receiving any orders. This was due to the fact that our merchant gateway, Powerpay, dropped the ball on us and refused to process any more transactions from our company."

Louisa Deluca, vice president of loss prevention for Powerpay, said on Thursday that her company dropped Psystar because it violated the terms of its agreement with Powerpay. She declined to cite specific violations, but said "there are plenty of reasons why we shut the account off. We did not know that's what he was selling, we learned that yesterday."

Psystar has since switched merchant services providers to PayPal, who processed my transaction with the company on Wednesday. A PayPal representative did not immediately return a call seeking comment on that company's policies regarding sales of goods such as the Open Computer.

Psystar is still under siege from the press. A gentleman answering the phone Thursday morning directed all inquires to a press e-mail alias, and if I receive a response from the company, I'll let you know.

UPDATED 11:30am - I managed to obtain the cell phone number for Rudy Pedraza, who appears to be the owner of Psystar. A polite gentleman who answered the phone said that he was not Rudy, but confirmed the number belonged to Rudy. He took a message for Rudy, and promised to have him call back. Right. Holding breath.

The company also attempted to explain the elusive nature of its home address in Southern Florida in a statement posted on their site Thursday. Psystar's address has changed no less than three times in three days since the story exploded on Monday.

"We're in the process of moving to a new location which is now listed on our contact page," the company said in the statement. "The first new address posted (10481) was in error and our correct address is 10475 NW 28th Street. Psystar was, prior to this past week, not ready to handle the enormous production capacity demanded by the online community. Due to the incredible response we have now expanded to a larger commercial unit to handle the supplies and assembly of Open Computers."

Meanwhile, a News.com reader passed along an e-mail from a colleague who had alerted him to Psystar's existence on April 6, a week before the Psystar story blew up on Sunday night and Monday morning. That's the first instance I've heard of somebody who was aware of the Open Computer prior to Sunday evening, but if other people were aware of its existence earlier this month or year, please send me an e-mail or leave a comment below.

Originally Posted by http://government.zdnet.com/?p=3761

Walk through the Psystar fiasco with me. Many things are confusing. At a minimum, it’s clear that the OpenMac is bogus. It’s extremely dubious that Psystar is a legitimate company. It is increasingly likely that the whole thing is a phishing or credit-card scam.

Item: The wandering hardware company. Psystar’s address, as displayed on its website has changed four times since the story hit on Monday.

Address 1: 10645 SW 112th St., Miami

Address 2: 10481 NW 28th St., Miami

Address 3: 10471 NW 28th St., Miami

Address 4: 10475, NW 28th St., Doral

Psystar attempts to address suspicions about this with this statement on the website:

We’re in the process of moving to a new location which is now listed on our contact page. The first new address posted (10481) was in error and our correct address is 10475 NW 28th Street. PSYSTAR was, prior to this past week, not ready to handle the enormous production capacity demanded by the online community. Due to the incredible response we have now expanded to a larger commercial unit to handle the supplies and assembly of Open Computers. THANK YOU for all of your orders.

The whole address thing is admirably reported by The Guardian’s Charles Arthur and the loyal readers of Gizmodo, who tracked down the addresses and snapped pics. It’s not clear to me that the latest address actually exists. Mapquest says the address exists. Google Maps says it doesn’t.

psystar1.jpg

Item: No lawyers: Here Psystar (who no one’s ever heard of) is challenging one of the largest and most litigation-friendly companies in Silicon Valley on a matter that goes to the heart of end-user license agreements — a complicated and unsettled area of law — and one with ramifications for the entire industry. But Psystar’s lawyers are nowhere to be heard of. Even weirder: Psystar’s Rodolfo Pedraza has been talking to the media. Assuming he has lawyers, they’re not telling him to shut up?

Item: Credit-card processing. Psystar is taking credit card numbers. It’s not processing them. People who tried to order machines yesterday got this message:

Thank you for visiting Psystar. We’re sorry but the store is temporarily down due to the fact that we are currently unable to process any credit card transactions. Please send an e-mail to support@psystar.com with the subject line “UPDATE” so that we can update you when the store comes back online. For customers who have already placed orders: if you received a confirmation e-mail then your item is in queue to be built and shipped.

Today Pystar confesses they don’t have a processor:

Midday yesterday our store was not receiving any orders. This was due to the fact that our merchant gateway, Powerpay, dropped the ball on us and refused to process any more transactions from our company. We have reverted to Paypal until we can find a high-volume merchant. Apparently Powerpay was not ready to handle the community’s demand for Open Computing.”

News.com’s Tom Krazit reports today that Powerpay yanked Psystar’s account Wednesday when it discovered what it was purporting to sell.

Louisa Deluca, vice president of loss prevention for Powerpay, said on Thursday that her company dropped Psystar because it violated the terms of its agreement with Powerpay. She declined to cite specific violations, but said “there are plenty of reasons why we shut the account off. We did not know that’s what he was selling, we learned that yesterday.”

Item: Floridatek.com. Psystar principal Rodolfo Pedraza is also listed as the registrant for a company called FloridaTek.com. As pointed out on Gizmodo, if you go to the site and click almost anywhere, you will get the chance to save a .exe file to your computer.

Conclusion: Psystar is collecting credit cards numbers, encouraging that people send them email, and engaging in spyware. It’s a phishing/credit-card scam. If you gave them your credit card number you should alert your bank. You might want to contact the FL Attorney General. I contacted them and they said to date they have no complaints about Psystar or Pedraza.

Originally Posted by http://government.zdnet.com/?p=3762

Posting email I received from Andrew Storms, director of security ops at nCircle Network Security:

There are absolutely enough key indicators here to warrant concern. The Pystar folks simply aren’t escaping from this one unharmed. Lets start with Apple. They will most certainly sue under the terms of their EULA. Despite the outcome of any lawsuit, Apple has enough cash to send Pystar to
bankruptcy regardless. Next, the consumers are going to have field day on this. If Pystar fails to deliver a product and they took credit cards,
expect more lawsuits. This all assumes that Pystar is truly attempting to run a legitimate business.

What if they really aren’t so innocent and they are in the business of crime? We already have a number of crimes committed which will send them to jail for a long time. Lets start with fraudulently collecting credit card numbers and misrepresenting themselves to the public. And now according to
the Gizmodo piece, it appears that the same people are running a website which may be hosting malware. Let us not forget that these people and the
websites are located in the US. Nobody launches or runs Internet based attacks from inside the US, its an instant go directly to jail coupon. I
bet the FBI is already on the case and has these people under surveillance.

Originally Posted by OSx86 Project not too happy with Psystar either - Engadget

by Nilay Patel, posted Apr 16th 2008 at 1:12PM
Uh-oh, it looks like wannabe Mac clone maker Psystar has more than one licensing issue with the Open Computer: the company didn't get permission from developers working on the OSx86 Project to sell their work. Netkas, who developed the EFI emulator Psystar is using, posted up a blog entry yesterday calling Psystar "liars" and has re-released his code under a license that specifically forbids commercial usage. We chatted briefly with Netkas and he told us that not only did Psystar take his code without permission, it's using other code from the project like the NVInject graphics patch developed by Gotoh, and that he contacted Psystar when he learned about the Open Computer with no results. We also talked to several other members of the OSx86 scene who believe that Apple is tolerant of (and even subtly assisting) their efforts, and are worried that the Psystar flap might end that relationship and bring the hammer down -- after all, there's no Psystar without OSx86.

Interestingly, when we called Psystar to get comments on all of this, Rudy Pedraza, the president, first wanted to know if we could make Netkas call him, then denied using the EFI emulator, then repeatedly asked us for Netkas's phone number (in Russia!) so he could talk to him directly, and then finally promised to call us back. Yeah, he never called back. That's a lot of uncertainty around a pair of machines that haven't shipped from a company with two different addresses that's been in business for less than a year -- and Apple hasn't even gotten involved yet. At this point we're going to say that if you really want a hackintosh, you're likely better off rolling up your sleeves and building one yourself -- you'll probably have it done well before this whole mess gets sorted out.