Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Isn't this illegal?

If it's against the EULA doesn't mean it's illegal. Sheesh. If you break a EULA the most you can get is sued. It's a copyright violation. Copyright violations get sorted out in civil court. You're not going to jail if you load OS X on a PC, although you "could" get sued. See the distinction?

Again, if you install your copy of OS X on your PC, the cops will NOT be breaking down your door. Also, unless you go around telling everyone or call Apple and tell them you're doing this, no one is going to know anyway.

It's when you start burning copies of OS X on a bunch of CD's and then you go around selling these CD's for 10 bucks that it starts getting into the "illegal" territory. Or you build a bunch of PC's and pre-install OS X on all of them, then sell them as an Apple "clone". THEN Apple will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy their business model. And you will know their name is Apple when they lay their vengeance upon thee.

Sorry, got carried away there...
 
I seem to remember that it is only the interface that can be run on macs only, ie, if you wanted to run strictly text-based operations (terminal) using OSX but with no GUI you'd be fine. I'll see if I can find where I read that.
 
Cromulent said:
Exactly right. Unless you break an actual law a company can't do anything about it. If you own the copy of Mac OS X and only install it on one computer, be it a Mac or a PC Apple have absolutely no legal grounds to sue you. The only thing they could possibly get you on is breach of contract, maybe.
Click to expand...

the thing that is illegal is violating the laws that govern and enforce contracts. When you breach a contract you are indeed violating a law which is why you could be taken to court.
 
Cromulent said:
Exactly right. Unless you break an actual law a company can't do anything about it. If you own the copy of Mac OS X and only install it on one computer, be it a Mac or a PC Apple have absolutely no legal grounds to sue you. The only thing they could possibly get you on is breach of contract, maybe.
Click to expand...

There is the BSA and they get people all the time for running too many copies of software, and other funky stuff against the EULA.

But their method to collect evidence does include raids where the FBI and local law enforcement help the execute a raid that would make most IRS audits seem tame.

And to get a raid by the BSA only requires one pissed off employee, or customer.

Though, the money they give you for turning someone in sucks. And they don't really go after individuals unless they run a piracy operation.
 
If I legally purchase one unit of software and one PC, why should the government tell me how I should install it? Laws like this are stupid.

It would be the same thing if it was illegal for you to play a DVD on your computer (and not a standalone DVD player).
 
Cromulent said:
Exactly right. Unless you break an actual law a company can't do anything about it. If you own the copy of Mac OS X and only install it on one computer, be it a Mac or a PC Apple have absolutely no legal grounds to sue you. The only thing they could possibly get you on is breach of contract, maybe.
Click to expand...

Sadly, the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act,) did, indeed, make it a federal CRIME to violate copyright.

That means violating copyright is illegal.

Violating a license is not illegal in the same way, though. It does not violate any law, and is not a crime. But it does consist of breaching a contract, and therefore the company (Apple,) can pursue legal action in CIVIL court. As has been pointed out, this is not the same as breaking the law.

But, Apple, sneaky little buggers they are, have incorporated various copyright-protected bits into OS X that make violating the license also violating Apple's copyright. (There is a poem in the code and executables of OS X. Copying the poem constitutes copyright infringement, and is therefore illegal in the actual criminal sense.)

So, normally, one would be correct in saying that 'violating a software license is not illegal', but Apple has found a way to make it so.
 
Macky-Mac said:
the thing that is illegal is violating the laws that govern and enforce contracts. When you breach a contract you are indeed violating a law which is why you could be taken to court.
Click to expand...

I am aware of that, hence the fact I stated breach of contract being the one thing they can get you on.

Sun Baked said:
There is the BSA and they get people all the time for running too many copies of software, and other funky stuff against the EULA.

But their method to collect evidence does include raids where the FBI and local law enforcement help the execute a raid that would make most IRS audits seem tame.

And to get a raid by the BSA only requires one pissed off employee, or customer.

Though, the money they give you for turning someone in sucks. And they don't really go after individuals unless they run a piracy operation.
Click to expand...

I'm from the UK and have no idea what a BSA is. I'll have a read up, but I am 99% sure that if Apple tried to take me to court for running OS X on a PC (as long as I purchased it legally) the case would be thrown out or I would get done on a charge of breach of contract.

ehurtley said:
Sadly, the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act,) did, indeed, make it a federal CRIME to violate copyright.

That means violating copyright is illegal.

Violating a license is not illegal in the same way, though. It does not violate any law, and is not a crime. But it does consist of breaching a contract, and therefore the company (Apple,) can pursue legal action in CIVIL court. As has been pointed out, this is not the same as breaking the law.

But, Apple, sneaky little buggers they are, have incorporated various copyright-protected bits into OS X that make violating the license also violating Apple's copyright. (There is a poem in the code and executables of OS X. Copying the poem constitutes copyright infringement, and is therefore illegal in the actual criminal sense.)

So, normally, one would be correct in saying that 'violating a software license is not illegal', but Apple has found a way to make it so.
Click to expand...

If you purchase the software legally, you are not breaking any copyright laws. As long as you are only running one instance of the software at one time and have paid for the right to run that software. Apple can jump up and down all they like but the fact remains that you have own the right to run the software. The only recourse they would have is to take you to a civil court as you have already stated.
 
Porscheboy16 said:
If I legally purchase one unit of software and one PC, why should the government tell me how I should install it? Laws like this are stupid.....
Click to expand...

you misunderstand....it's your contract with Apple, that's the EULA, that's what tells you how you are allowed to install it, not the government......the government merely says that once you have made a contract with somebody (Apple in this case), then you're legally obligated to follow its terms
 
ehurtley said:
... But it does consist of breaching a contract, and therefore the company (Apple,) can pursue legal action in CIVIL court. As has been pointed out, this is not the same as breaking the law.....
Click to expand...

It's "illegal" because you've broken a law. It's not a crime, but you don't have to commit a crime to break a law, and breaking the law is what makes it "illegal"
 
Cromulent said:
I'm from the UK and have no idea what a BSA is. I'll have a read up, but I am 99% sure that if Apple tried to take me to court for running OS X on a PC (as long as I purchased it legally) the case would be thrown out or I would get done on a charge of breach of contract.
Click to expand...

I think they may operate where you are ...

www.bsa.org

But if they took you to court, it would be for buying one copy and running 100.

Especially since they tend to go after people not having enough copies of software, or buying pirated SW for their companies.

Edit: I notice they updated their rewards a bit to make it more lucrative to turn in your workplace -- at least in the US.
 
CaptainHaddock said:
"Illegal", you keep using that word. I don't think it means what you think it means. — Inigo Montoya

Software companies do not get to write the laws of your country (the USA?) with their so-called EULAs.

EULA != law, therefore:
acting contrary to an EULA != breaking the law

On the other hand, maybe some corporations re-wrote your Constitution and dissolved your state legislature last week, and I missed the bulletin.

There are many good reasons for not running OS X on a normal PC, but they're mostly technical.
Click to expand...

Actually, in the US, companies (and people!) are allowed to write laws, also known as contracts. They are legally binding, and they are the word of law. They are, as I recall, termed secondary laws by legal philosophers.
 
bartelby said:
There's no grey area. If "Apple Inc" or "Apple Computer Inc" isn't printed on the motherboard then it's not Apple hardware.
Click to expand...

If you actually install OS X on non-apple hardware, that is illegal. However, the grey area is in describing how to do so. I don't know about this particular case, but in general, describing how to do something criminal is not itself criminal unless the description actually incites people to break the law.
 
eventually, another point is, still: apple produces no hardware, so called apple hardware are apple rebranded harddrive, mainboard, cpu, graphic card, etc... etc....
 
ksgant said:
It's about the same as pulling the tag off the mattress that says "under penalty of law, do not remove this tag".
Click to expand...

Except what those tags actually say is "Under penalty of law, tag may not be removed except by the consumer". (You can find warning labels that say "don't remove this tag", but they don't have the "under penalty of law" clause.) There are no tags which are illegal for the customer to remove.

As for EULAs, so far they have not been enforceable in most cases. Sometimes they are. It depends...you'd have to go court to find out.

--Eric
 
is breaking a EULA breaking the law?

Don't remember that anywhere in the constitution(of the USA)... :D

And this is probably debatable across every country on the planet.
 
HawaiiMacAddict said:
I was under the understanding that the Apple EULA prohibits this
Click to expand...

First off you have to live in a location where a EULA is considered a valid contract.

If you go to a store, buy something and only then open the box and find a contract inside are you bound by the terms of that contract? I'd say "It depends". It depends a lot on where you live.

Even if you do happen to find the EULA to be binding, violating it is not illegal. You would be breaking an agreement between two parties NOT violating some law.

Also O"Riely is publishing the book just for entertainment and education. It would be worth reading just to learn something even if you never do run Mac OS X on a PC.
 
savar said:
Actually, in the US, companies (and people!) are allowed to write laws, also known as contracts. They are legally binding, and they are the word of law. They are, as I recall, termed secondary laws by legal philosophers.
Click to expand...

In Europe, if you go to a shop, buy an item and take it home, whatever contract the manufacturer believes he has with you doesn't mean much at all. As long as you haven't negotiated the contract, and as long as you are a private citizen and not a company, it's mostly the law that counts, and not the contract.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back