Psystar Set to Emerge from Bankruptcy, Ready for Round Two in the Fight with Apple

You'll recall that Psystar filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy at the end of May, right after a judge ordered it to reveal sensitive financial information to computer giant Apple, who had previously sued the small PC maker for copyright infringement. For the past few years now, Psystar has been assembling and selling PCs equipped with Mac programs -“ without Apple's blessing.

Apple not only seeks damages for Psystar's unauthorized use of the signature Mac technology -“ what Apple calls "Hackintoshing -“ it wants to find out who's financing Psystar's production line. Apple suspects Psystar's Mac-cloning process is part of a larger conspiracy to break the computer giant's grip over the exclusive rights to produce and install the Mac programs.

But Psystar has fought back from the beginning. When Apple sued, Psystar fired back with a suit of its own, filing a counterclaim that accused Apple of violating antitrust laws in claiming a monopoly over the Mac programs. In defending itself against Apple's claims, Psystar also challenged the reach of Apple's copyright over the Mac software, arguing it doesn't prevent installation of the software on non-Apple hardware. The court threw out Psystar's antitrust claims, but allowed the company to pursue its challenge to the scope of Apple's copyright. All the while, Psystar continued selling its "Hackintosh- computers.

Psystar's bankruptcy filing came in the midst of this litigation, and stalled the proceedings. The company insisted the filing had nothing to do with Apple's lawsuit and was simply the result of the pressures from the economic downturn. Apple saw things differently, and accused Psystar of using bankruptcy to hide from a lawsuit it was destined to lose and to avoid having to reveal the identity of its financial backers.

The computer giant recently succeeded in convincing the bankruptcy court to allow the lawsuit to proceed. And now, news comes that Psystar is ready to emerge from bankruptcy. Psystar says the bankruptcy served it well, allowing the company to shed a significant amount of debt and even position itself to introduce a new line of computers.

Psystar shows no sign of bending to Apple's will. Its new line is called the Open(7) and is also equipped with Mac software. In fact, the new computers will have 40 more processing speed than the previous line and up to 24GB of memory. The company has touted the computers as the "fastest and most quiet computing configuration available.- You can get one for $1,499.99.

It remains to be seen what will happen with the ongoing litigation over Psystar's Mac-cloning process. But it appears that Psystar plans to move forward with its line of "Hackintosh- computers until it is forced to stop: in statement about the lawsuit, the company said it's now "ready to emerge- from bankruptcy and "again battle Goliath.-

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