51 replies to this topic

[yamcha]

Hi guys,

Just out of curiosity is it legal to install OSX on a PC, a lot of people are saying it is not, but there are also people who say it is legal..

Can someone clarify this for me? I'm not worried or anything but just wanted to know..

Appreciate your help :]

[Hagar]

DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed below are mine & do not necessarily reflect the views of insanelymac or its owners. Secondly, I am not a lawyer, and the following is merely the legal position to the best of my knowledge, errors & omissions excepted etc etc.

If you have *not* legally purchased a copy of OS X:

Any installation is illegal, as you do not have any kind of license to the software. This includes *any* distro-based installation as these are pirated by definition, as well as *any* installation of 10.4.* Tiger, as this was never sold separately in an intel-capable form.

If you *have* legally purchased a copy of OS X:

It depends on the laws where you live, as regards software licensing, EULAs and sales/post-sales contracts.

If you live in a country that regards the EULA as legally binding (e.g. the USA), you are subject to the clause that says the software may only be installed on a single apple-labelled computer. Some people have speculated that placing an Apple sticker on your computer fulfils this obligation, although this has not been tested in court, I doubt it would hold up.

If you live in a country that does not consider the EULA or post-sales contracts legally binding, like certain european countries, and/or where laws protecting interoperability and reverse-engineering exist, It is most likely legal.

Hope this helps.

[leafhound]

Agree with Hagar


Last year I was staying in a student accommodation where there was about 12 students, the house was raided by the police early one morning and lots of equipment was ceased and taken away for analysis amongst other items were 3 PC's, 2 of them were Hackintosh. it was over six months before anything was heard. only one person was charged with drug related offences and all 3 computers were returned to us in the same condition with Hackintosh installed.

I would only ever do a Hack with a genuine DVD/USB media that I purchased.

[nmarques]

yamcha, on Jan 2 2010, 03:51 PM, said:

Hi guys,

Just out of curiosity is it legal to install OSX on a PC, a lot of people are saying it is not, but there are also people who say it is legal..

Can someone clarify this for me? I'm not worried or anything but just wanted to know..

Appreciate your help :]

Like someone said above, depends where you live, despite in most of Europe EULA's are a legal bound contract. Then it depends on the local law system, where you have several instances, like in the US. You may find one instance sympathy for you cause, and the others won't.

But I would consider the following in any case, Apple, just like Microsoft and other bad-ass companies who hold strong positions in the market segments they work on usually take the things easilly on court, they send a battalion of bad-ass lawyers and make the case so expensive that eventually you will end up by accepting their agreements as most people won't have finantial resources to maintain such case.

In the worst case, specially in the US, u might get away from the initial intentions, but you will end up being overhelmed by some patent violations and end up nailed in the end.

I don't believe that if Apple starts to move against hackintosh'ers, the last ones will have any hope of winning a law suit.

Money = Power (maybe not on India where several companies like Microsoft have been nailed before).

[fissm]

I think if you genuinely purchased the product, it should be legal

[mikecwest]

fissm, on Feb 16 2010, 04:32 AM, said:

I think if you genuinely purchased the product, it should be legal

Personally, I don't think it should be legal. I think Apple should be able to have their own business model. I think the reason why an Apple works is due to that...

I also think that this should be a Sticky, as it has been discussed many times before. The debate will never end.

[121fred]

I think there is a bit in the EULA about installing only on Apple Hardware. This is what Apple is using as argument against Psystar in the US. Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong guys but based on my reading I think the reality is it is illegal to install on a PC Hackintosh, BUT!!!

Cheers

[mielaczka]

Was it Europe or US?

leafhound, on Jan 11 2010, 05:45 PM, said:

Agree with Hagar


Last year I was staying in a student accommodation where there was about 12 students, the house was raided by the police early one morning and lots of equipment was ceased and taken away for analysis amongst other items were 3 PC's, 2 of them were Hackintosh. it was over six months before anything was heard. only one person was charged with drug related offences and all 3 computers were returned to us in the same condition with Hackintosh installed.

I would only ever do a Hack with a genuine DVD/USB media that I purchased.

[mikecwest]

mielaczka, on Mar 5 2010, 06:19 PM, said:

Was it Europe or US?

I am guessing that it was Europe, as I have heard of a "student accommodation" here in the USA... I think in the USA they call it Dormitories?

[swedish_meatball]

Imagine if movies released by Sony Pictures only were allowed on Sony BD/DVD players.

[mckooter]

swedish_meatball, on Mar 13 2010, 12:04 AM, said:

Imagine if movies released by Sony Pictures only were allowed on Sony BD/DVD players.

one of two things would happen:

1: sony would have a huge fanbase of people who only watched sony movies, and there would be a hacking community devoted to making sony bd/dvd run on other hardware

2: sony would die out

[Mikuro]

mckooter, on Mar 18 2010, 02:01 AM, said:

one of two things would happen:

1: sony would have a huge fanbase of people who only watched sony movies, and there would be a hacking community devoted to making sony bd/dvd run on other hardware

2: sony would die out

I registered just to say this;


Haha, I see what you did there!

For the topic; I do believe it is against Apples' wishes and EULA, and is also legally dubious, especially concerning the EULA. If you want to stay clear of the law, get Apple hardware (or ditch Mac OS).

As for the rest of us who think the tie in to the Apple hardware is a big drawback to Mac OS, we try our best to work around it for our own personal experimentation and use, sometimes despite what the law and/or the copyright holders say we can and can't do.

So although it is easier to just say it is illegal, maybe you should reconsider the question, is that really what you wanted to know? did you already know the answer?

Finally, you should always have bought a license, otherwise it is just straight piracy.

[Saeen]

So it means I can't install Mac OS X 10.6 on my PC and run both Windows and Mac through bootcamp?

[Beerkex'd]

Why would you want to run Bootcamp on a PC?

[kobus]

It's not really "illegal", but you are breaking the EULA. There has yet to be a precedent on whether EULAs will hold up in court.

[georges_k]

I've read on another forum: stick an apple logo on your hackintosh

[Freaky Chokra]

nmarques, on Jan 17 2010, 01:28 AM, said:

Like someone said above, depends where you live, despite in most of Europe EULA's are a legal bound contract. Then it depends on the local law system, where you have several instances, like in the US. You may find one instance sympathy for you cause, and the others won't.

But I would consider the following in any case, Apple, just like Microsoft and other bad-ass companies who hold strong positions in the market segments they work on usually take the things easilly on court, they send a battalion of bad-ass lawyers and make the case so expensive that eventually you will end up by accepting their agreements as most people won't have finantial resources to maintain such case.

In the worst case, specially in the US, u might get away from the initial intentions, but you will end up being overhelmed by some patent violations and end up nailed in the end.

I don't believe that if Apple starts to move against hackintosh'ers, the last ones will have any hope of winning a law suit.

Money = Power (maybe not on India where several companies like Microsoft have been nailed before).

Very well said NMarques.
Every bit of those words are true. Its just what happens everywhere.

Well, If NMarques, you don't mind...
Can you refresh my memory, when in History was Microsoft nailed?
That too, in India? Isn't India pretty much corrupt(?) that Bigwigs like Microsoft can easily "buy" their decision?

Awaiting you reply

Regards,
Freaky Chokra

[toyotascionxd]

i believe it's illegal. by the way how come the mac os costs $29 only while windows 7 costs from $120 to 200?

[MegaLeon]

If i'm right Apple's EULA states that you can install Mac Os only on Apple certified machines.

[tom btc]

Not legal, who cares?