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Psystar wants to force Apple to open up

Started by mathewi · 4 months ago

According to an article in Information Week, the Apple clone-maker known as Psystar Systems is counter-suing Apple, claiming that the computer company uses illegal tactics to protect its market share in personal computers, including anti-competitive measures that are prohibited by the Sherman ... Continue reading »

8 comments

  • michael_webster

    4 months ago

    You might want to follow the Whole Foods FTC action in which they are maintaining that the relevant market for Whole Foods is the small high end natural market
    reply
  • mathewi

    4 months ago

    Thanks, Michael. On the other side of the equation, a propane company
    in Canada successfully argued that acquiring another propane company
    wouldn't impair competition -- even though it would give the company a
    huge share of the propane market -- because the propane business was
    just a subset of the overall heating market.
    reply
  • michael_webster

    4 months ago

    Matthew, the FTC lost the first round in their battle and then had it reversed.

    I don't believe that we can predict US Anti-Trust decisions from looking at the Competition Tribunal.

    But it will be interesting to follow, certainly Apple has tried to carve out its own market, and in the market ties software and hardware together.
    reply
  • mathewi

    4 months ago

    Thanks, Michael -- I wasn't suggesting that we could use the Superior ruling to predict U.S. anti-trust decisions, just pointing out that the argument can go both ways.
    reply
  • michael_webster

    4 months ago

    Matthew, your position is the one currently accepted, in both Canada and the US.

    The Whole Foods case strikes most US Anti-Trust lawyers as nutsy.

    But I think that there is something to it: what is a market for a product without considering how the major player advertised for their consumers?
    reply
  • ex Bebox hacker

    4 months ago

    "How come I can get a Macbook Pro and run Windows on it, but I can’t buy a Dell Inspiron and run the Mac OS on it? Doesn’t seem right somehow." I'm sure you know the answer: Steve Jobs.
    reply
  • Chris Edwards

    4 months ago

    "...buy a Dell Inspiron and run the Mac OS on it..."

    That feels so wrong.

    A Thinkpad maybe or one of the less cheesy Vaios (that hopefully doesn't fall apart).
    reply
  • Randall Howard

    4 months ago

    Mathew,
    Thanks for posting this. As MAC goes mainstream, I've been wondering this as well. Having recently bought a MacBook, I was struck by how much "price fixing" goes on. The price is always the same no matter where you go. I thought this was illegal independent of market share, but can only imagine that as MAC becomes a dominant player this will somehow get addressed either by competition or the regulators (or both).
    Randall
    reply

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