Apple suing Wired for Hackintosh video (Update: No, Wired complied)

Chauncey Dupree
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January 14, 2009
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It looks like Apple is pretty serious about keeping Hackintoshes off of the street (ever heard of Psystar?).  According to his Twitter post, Wired reporter Brian X. Chen is revealing that Wired is getting sued by Cupertino  for releasing a video on how to make a Hackintosh.  That is a pretty bold move on Apple's part considering there are literally hundreds of sets of instructions out there on how to do this.   Lifehacker alone seems to post a new one every week.

The original Post is now currently down but Gizmodo currently is hosting a copy of it.  What do you think about this turn of events?

UPDATE: he's released another Twit (the twit) saying that it wasn't a suing, perhaps Apple just asked nicely?

Comments (10)

Chris (not verified) | January 14, 2009 - 11:49am

http://twitter.com/bxchen/status/1119061463

admin | January 14, 2009 - 12:02pm

Thanks Chris, updated :D

Benjamin Dobson | January 14, 2009 - 11:49am

Without enforcing rules, they might as well not be there. It seems like a sensible, if surprising, move on Apple's part.

MadMike | January 14, 2009 - 12:04pm

They should take a hint and put the superior OS X on 3rd party hardware. Apple makes some great computers, they are innovative and very well designed. However, they are too expensive!

 

The Apple 17" MBP fully loaded is over $5,500 - that's 50% more than any other fully loaded 17" laptop on the market. 50%!

"Now, I don't want to get off on a rant here, but..." - Dennis Miller

a person (not verified) | January 14, 2009 - 12:08pm

I think Apple should come up with a clever way to harness this energy. This presents a lot of interesting opportunities for Apple, but so far I think they are picking the wrong angle. Why should they care what people do to their own machines?

A futile attempt at 'fighting' the interwebs makes it look like they're grasping at straws.

This might even weaken their case against Psystar in the sense that they will never be able to gain traction against individuals reporting or using this for personal use in the courts.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | January 14, 2009 - 12:14pm

There is one very simple explanation to this.

Apple just wanted to see the demand for a Netbook, and now thy see how many people have done the hack/tosh Apple asked to take it down so thy can go ahead and start working on there Netbook.

MacPredictions (not verified) | January 14, 2009 - 12:17pm

Who can blame them? The Wired post was telling people to download a stolen copy of Mac OS X from Pirate Bay. Wired are copyright owners as well - how would they like it if Apple.com told people to download pirated PDFs of their magazine?!

Seems like they sent polite request, or at the most a cease and desist. It's no big deal.

Larry Hamilton (not verified) | January 14, 2009 - 12:25pm

Apple has invested billions for dollar in provideing an integrate hardware and software approach to providing a superior user experence. Optimize hardware (Mac) is an important part of this effort. And the sells of the hardware finances the whole thing. Apple has a right to its Intellectual Property and a right to not sell it outside (or have it free distributed by outsiders for free) to the PC community. The notion that everything should be free and uncontrolled is just nuts.Furthermore, the Mac cost only slightly more and has consistently delivered for me since the first mac. I am more than willing to pay a little more.

Darran (not verified) | January 14, 2009 - 1:49pm

I remember this video, isn't it the one where he tells people to download Mac OS X illegally?

I knew that'd be trouble.

michael smith (not verified) | January 14, 2009 - 5:11pm

You guys have it a little bit wrong. Apple's not asking other people to take down their Hackintosh videos - like mine. (I'd post the URL but 9 to 5 mac would probably just delete it.) Wired was suggesting that people download a hacked version of Leopard on Pirate Bay. So you can see WHY Apple would demand they take THAT ONE down. My video which installs Leopard on a Dell Mini 9 shows me cracking the seal on a brand new Leopard OS box. I think that's the difference.

But who knows... maybe they'll tell me to take mine down too.