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Letters from the Issue of November 19, 2009

Hack Job No license to steal: Regarding "Hackintosh" (Tim Elfrink, November 12): It would be interesting to see what would happen if someone tried to open a McDonald's outlet without a franchise license. It's really the same; one licenses the use of the work built into the McDonald's name, logo,...
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Hack Job

No license to steal: Regarding "Hackintosh" (Tim Elfrink, November 12): It would be interesting to see what would happen if someone tried to open a McDonald's outlet without a franchise license. It's really the same; one licenses the use of the work built into the McDonald's name, logo, etc., just as one licenses the work in the Apple software. It's been the same for centuries: paying for the right to use something you did not create. Just because something is in front of you does not give you license to use it.

Trevor

Toronto

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Druggie dad no excuse: This article is typical hack reporting. Let's make these two hometown boys look great and Apple look like a big meanie. In fact, Apple has been ruled as not abusing anything by tying its hardware and software. And the company is the legal copyright holder of the GUI. Plus the tools to bypass the checks within Mac OS are illegal, and the lack of receipts to prove the Pedraza brothers bought and didn't steal the copies of OS doesn't help. Having a tough life and a druggie daddy doesn't change these facts or the fact that the brothers are not heroes.

Luc

Los Angeles

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Riding Apple's coattails: It's amazing how you have painted these two as "victims" trying to foster sympathy. But their own comment says it all: "'These guys are riding our coattails and we're shouldering all the court costs,' Rudy huffs." Isn't that what they are doing to Apple?

Tom

Monterey

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Bros get 15 minutes of fame: The two brothers are class-A morons, and the author of this article is a clueless turd seeking attention. What a waste of newsprint and bandwidth. Psystar and the two clowns behind it will die a slow, painful death, and 30 minutes later, no one will care to remember.

Jarod

Via web commentary

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Supply and demand an apology: Here's an interesting question: If Dell were loading Mac OS X on machines, would you write the same story? I think not. Let the market decide if Apple's choices are worth it. They are.

Michelle

Calgary

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Using the knife on the Apple: If a company sells you a bread knife and the license agreement says you can cut only bread with it, what are you gonna do? I can use the bread knife to cut a lemon if I want. I paid for the knife, not the agreement. I understand the company spent money on research and development to create the world's best bread knife, but guess what? I found that this bread knife cuts my fruit very nicely, so I'm going to use it on my fruit.

Check

Miami

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Stealing for profit: These individuals are stealing Apple's intellectual property and selling it to make a profit. And you paint them as innocent victims and underdogs? Good Lord, what happened to journalistic integrity? You should be ashamed of yourselves.

Brian Kimble

Providence

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Home shopping: Wow! Did these guys pay your so-called newspaper to write about them and make them out to be heroes? This is a hack job to beat all hack jobs. I thought I was looking at Fox, er, Fixed news for a second. What these two are doing is wrong, period.

Ted

Ocala

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David vs. Goliath crap: This article is heavily biased and skewed toward Psystar and the Pedraza brothers. It is not written with any objectivity. It makes Apple out to be a corporate bully for asking Psystar to cease and desist. What everyone, including the writer of this article, fails to understand is that Apple licenses the use of Mac OS X just like any other software company (Adobe, Microsoft, etc.). Drawing parallels to buying CDs and music is incorrect and inaccurate.

Echo

Toronto

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Byte into an Apple: The Pedraza brothers are great examples of American ingenuity. Apple should be proud of them, because they are following the company's advertised salute: "Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently." Apple makes a fine product, but let's not let the company fool us into siding with it to set a precedent for copyright law that squelches innovation. Keep fighting, Pedrazas!

Matt

Charlottesville

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