14 DAY TRIAL // On December 17 (Thursday), tech-focused sources were reporting that Psystar had officially ceased all operations, including taking down its website. The Florida-based vendor of Mac clones was still selling the Rebel EFI utility through its website even after Apple had been granted a permanent injunction against the company. Soon, however, Softpedia noticed that all traces of Psystar were slowly being erased. Days later, the company shows to the world it still has some energy left to fight.
A recent TUAW report citing The Wall Street Journal informed that, “After Apple's sweeping permanent injunction, Psystar has officially ceased operations. The company's CEO Rudy Pedraza told the Dow Jones Newswire last night that he is ‘shutting things down immediately.’ The company has also released its eight employees, and shuttered its website last night.” An update to that very report on TUAW later said that, “The Psystar website appears to be back online at the moment, but isn't currently selling any Mac clones or any licenses to Rebel EFI, but Rebel EFI is listed as ‘Out of Stock.’”
Minutes ago, Softpedia checked on Psystar’s website to see if something (anything) changed since. And something did – Psystar T-Shirts are up now! For $15 a piece (although the company hasn’t posted a single picture portraying the actual product), they also secure an authentication key for future Rebel EFI software releases. That’s right, Psystar still seeks to prove its software hack is legal, and hopes to continue to sell it to those interested in installing Mac OS X on generic PC hardware.
“If you purchase the software, shouldn’t you be able to do with it what you choose?” Psystar rhetorically asked on its reborn website. “If you are also of the opinion that Mac OS should not be tied to Apple hardware, continue to show your support of both Open Computing and Psystar by purchasing a t-shirt Psystar is of the opinion that if you purchase a product, you should be free to do with it what you please. A retail copy of an OS should be no different. If you believe in Open Computing and you would like to show your support, buy a shirt.”
Psystar tried to enlighten visitors adding, “We have chosen to temporarily halt sales of Rebel EFI. Due to our ongoing litigation with Apple, Inc., we are seeking legal sanctions to continue selling our software products. We will continue to work with the Mac OS and bringing it to generic PC hardware.” “We will continue to support all of our products, both hardware and software. There are also plans to distribute Rebel EFI versions specific to computer configurations, such as Rebel EFI: HP mini and Rebel EFI: Dell 9 mini,” the company revealed, suggesting it was still alive and kicking.
The Florida-based company concluded by saying that, in the weeks to come, it hoped to see an expedited judgment validating the legality of Rebel EFI, as well as “all future Psystar software products.” Currently, the Rebel EFI is Psystar’s only such product. “When we do start selling Rebel EFI again, users who purchase a shirt will be able to get an authentication key for their Rebel EFI software of choice,” the company claimed. Psystar has historically kept its promises to customers. The company, however, fails to mention anything about reimbursements, in the offset case it will not be able to deliver said software.