German Company Launches Mac Clones; Claims Immunity

• Author: admin
• Filed under: Tech News
• Date: Feb 13,2009

Following in the steps of Psystar and other clone makers, HyperMegaNet UG, based in Wolfsburg, Germany, has started selling Intel-based computers under the PearC brand. One would figure them to expect backlash from Apple, but they seem to feel they are immune.

For some reason neither Google or Yahoo! can translate the entire page, but the part of their FAQ related to this issue translates as follows:

7. Is it legal to Mac OS X on a PC to install?

The German legislation is in this case on the side of the end user. End User License Agreements are in Germany only to part of the contract, if they were agreed upon before the purchase of the software.

The restriction that Apple for its Mac OS X in the EULA does, therefore, no legal explanation Germany (BGB § 307). We are therefore convinced that our product is legal in Germany.

In other words, they’re saying that EULAs in Germany are only binding if the user can see and therefore tacitly agree to them prior to the purchase of the software. They are evidently saying this applies to system builders as well, since they plan to install Leopard on all their computers.

The price of the “starter version” is 499 euros, which works out to be $643 at the time of this writing. The PearC Starter is equipped by default with a 2.2GHz Intel E2200 CPU, 2GB of memory, a 250GB hard drive, DVD +/- RW and an NVIDIA GeForce 7200GS (256MB) graphics card. Naturally, you can customize the specifications.

PearCs will be sold in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the U.K.

Psystar has and still is in the midst of a legal battle with Apple; the case is set to go to trial in November. However, late last week Psystar won a victory (for once), as a judge allowed them to continue their countersuit against Apple.

Perhaps PearC assumes Apple is too busy with Psystar, or perhaps their claim of German immunity is true. We’ll see.