January 14th, 2009
BREAKING: Apple 'suing' wired for tutorial on 'Hackintosh' netbook tutorial, author says
UPDATE 3:00 PM EST: Just got off the phone with Evan Hansen, editor-in-chief at Wired.com, and he said the following for the record: “We made a determination that the video…we’re more comfortable taking down the video.” Hansen also said that Wired tries “to default to the most conservative position we can in terms of removing content…but we don’t want to pull content [needlessly].” Thus, the video got pulled down, and the posts are under review (and thus, not definitively kosher).
Also: Gizmodo’s Matt Buchanan got his hands on the offending video. Just a matter of time before Apple sues them, eh?
UPDATE 2:34 PM EST: A PR rep from Wired called and clarified the situation. Apple actually sent Wired a cease-and-desist letter, and the editors/legal are currently reviewing it and deciding whether it’s a valid request or not. (Sorry, Brian.) In the meantime, they’ve pulled down the offending video until they make a decision, but they’ve decided that the posts themselves are kosher and will remain live.
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Wired Gadget Lab guru Brian X. Chen revealed via Twitter a few minutes ago that Apple “is suing Wired for my video tutorial on hacking netbooks to run Mac OS X.”
It’s unclear whether it’s a cease-and-desist rather than a true lawsuit for the tutorial, which is a step-by-step guide to installing Apple’s Mac OS X on a Netbook. The video and post(s) (there are several, really) includes using favorite torrent tracker The Pirate Bay to get the software, as well as a foray into Netbook innards to get the whole thing working. It also includes a disclaimer that the activity will violate Apple’s EULA.
The video was taken down, apparently, but one commenter named Derek clearly feels the same way Apple does:
Way to go, Brian!
Are you going to show us how to steal commercial software too from Pirate Bay?
Dude, you are telling people to go download an “ILLEGAL VERSION OF MAC OS X LEOPARD”!!! What the hell is wrong with you? You are showing people how to STEAL. You trivialize the law by posting this video.
Apple spent millions developing this software. They need revenue to pay their costs, employ engineers, and develop future versions. You are helping to put people out of work by doing this, and you are telling people it’s perfectly OK to take something they didn’t pay for.
I certainly hope you NEVER lose your job at a company because people steal your work. People like you are the REASON for DRM.
Can I rob a bank? Yes.
Do I rob a bank? No. It’s wrong.So, work on your morals, pal.
Thoughts?
Andrew J. Nusca is an associate editor for ZDNet and SmartPlanet.
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| 01/14/09
