Is Hackintosh Illegal ?

[DnFx91]

I was doing some thinking after a moderator pointed out that i was not allowed to talk about "how" to install OSX on non-apple hardware in my article about my hackintosh. It got me wondering what exactly about it is illegal. For example, OSX is a free download from the app store, which requires a legit mac in the first place, so is any piracy taking place here ? Secondly, TMx86 seems to indicate that using his particular tools will somehow give you immunity to any legal issues. And Finally, does it actually say anywhere in Apple's EULA that you are breaking the law by installing OSX on your own hardware, that you own ? Or is it more a suggestion that you won't receive updates or support if you do so ? 

 

The whole thing seems like a really grey area, totally falls into the category of "ill do what i damn well please with the hardware that i bought with my own money, it's mine"

 

Can anyone shed some light on this ?

[iRileyx]

Hackintosh's break Apples ToS, which is why it isn't allowed to be discussed here.

[hconverse02]

Well yes and no.  They leave it open to download, but if you take a closer look, you aren't "allowed" to put it on non mac systems.  They want apple on apple products and I don't think mods want you to talk about hackintosh on ltt forms because of privacy and legal stuff blah blah blah

[Mr.Meerkat]

Ermmmmm...plis no ban as this is probably too much of a grey area but this is the thing...

 

Technically it's not against the law to build a Hackintosh but it's against Apple's TOS sooooooooooo, Apple may go up your arse but the feds won't do anything. 

[DnFx91]

4 minutes ago, RKRiley said:

Hackintosh's break Apples ToS, which is why it isn't allowed to be discussed here.

no, we are more than welcome the discuss the legality here, that was explained to me by an LTT moderator, we are just not allowed to talk about how you actually make a hackintosh

[iRileyx]

4 minutes ago, DnFx91 said:

no, we are more than welcome the discuss the legality here, that was explained to me by an LTT moderator, we are just not allowed to talk about how you actually make a hackintosh

I meant it's why Hackintosh's aren't allowed to be discussed.

[DnFx91]

2 minutes ago, RKRiley said:

I meant it's why Hackintosh's aren't allowed to be discussed.

dno man, my entire article here is about Hackintosh. Moderator was very reasonable about it

 

[DnFx91]

i finally just braved up enough to read the TOS, i didnt realise apple still technically own the OS when its running on your macbook, that's hilarious. 

 

[tatte]

Quote

Apple and/or Apple’s licensors retain ownership of the Apple Software itself and reserve all rights not expressly granted to you

Quote

(i) to download, install, use and run for personal, non-commercial use, one (1) copy of the Apple Software directly on each Apple-branded computer running OS X El Capitan, OS X Yosemite, OS X Mavericks, OS X Mountain Lion or OS X Lion (“Mac Computer”) that you own or control;

Source: http://images.apple.com/legal/sla/docs/macOS1012.pdf

 

You could just have read it yourself, it's even available in multiple languages if English isn't your strong suit.

[DnFx91]

1 minute ago, tatte said:

Source: http://images.apple.com/legal/sla/docs/macOS1012.pdf

 

You could just have read it yourself, it's even available in multiple languages if English isn't your strong suit.

important word being "could" thats like 50 pages man

[Guest Kloaked]

4 minutes ago, DnFx91 said:

i finally just braved up enough to read the TOS, i didnt realise apple still technically own the OS when its running on your macbook, that's hilarious. 

 

It's pretty much the same way with Steam, Origin, etc. You don't actually own the games, you're essentially just renting them as they reserve the right to revoke access from you at any time.

[tatte]

2 minutes ago, DnFx91 said:

important word being "could" thats like 50 pages man

12 pages, the rest are the same just in different languages.

 

5 minutes ago, DnFx91 said:

i finally just braved up enough to read the TOS, i didnt realise apple still technically own the OS when its running on your macbook, that's hilarious. 

It's not so surprising, it's not like we are free to do whatever we want with the music, movies, games etc we pay for.

[DnFx91]

1 minute ago, tatte said:

12 pages, the rest are the same just in different languages.

 

It's not so surprising, it's not like we are free to do whatever we want with the music, movies, games etc we pay for.

Man, intellectual property law is mental, what a mess. so how does it work with things like GOG games ? or linux distros ? i was sure that in the eyes of the law, the sole owner of that software is you and you alone ? 

 

Forgive me i am quite far behind with the legality of this stuff, ive been sailing the seven seas since i was a young'n and have only recently been introduced to the more kosher ways of doing things.

[vorticalbox]

18 minutes ago, Mr.Meerkat said:

Ermmmmm...plis no ban as this is probably too much of a grey area but this is the thing...

 

Technically it's not against the law to build a Hackintosh but it's against Apple's TOS sooooooooooo, Apple may go up your arse but the feds won't do anything. 

this is true assuming you buy a copy of mac and not pirate one.

[DnFx91]

1 minute ago, vorticalbox said:

this is true assuming you buy a copy of mac and not pirate one.

thats what confuses me, OSX is a free download if you have a legit mac already (which you have already paid ludicrous money for) 

[tatte]

13 minutes ago, DnFx91 said:

Man, intellectual property law is mental, what a mess. so how does it work with things like GOG games ? or linux distros ? i was sure that in the eyes of the law, the sole owner of that software is you and you alone ? 

 

Forgive me i am quite far behind with the legality of this stuff, ive been sailing the seven seas since i was a young'n and have only recently been introduced to the more kosher ways of doing things.

Copyright laws are different in each country, and terms of service vary for each product. Typically redistribution of even free products is prohibited, it shouldn't matter since downloading anything from anywhere but official sources can quickly turn out to be a bad idea anyway.

 

This is what you get with capitalism, everything is about making money. I doubt Apple really cares about Hackintosh, it's not really losing them money, but loose terms of service would hold a great potential to do so. Subsequently LMG has to cover its back.

 

GOG <3

[DnFx91]

52 minutes ago, tatte said:

Copyright laws are different in each country, and terms of service vary for each product. Typically redistribution of even free products is prohibited, it shouldn't matter since downloading anything from anywhere but official sources can quickly turn out to be a bad idea anyway.

 

This is what you get with capitalism, everything is about making money. I doubt Apple really cares about Hackintosh, it's not really losing them money, but loose terms of service would hold a great potential to do so. Subsequently LMG has to cover its back.

 

GOG <3

yeah i kind of have a broad perspective on mac users anyway, which apple is aware of too i think, that their users are not really the kind of people who will go to the lengths of making a hackintosh, they are the kind of people who just don't care about dropping a few grand on a machine to know it will just work. I was reading about the Psystar court case which kinda concretes it in my mind that apple don't really care if you hackintosh, but if you show a bunch of people how to do it, they will obviously get a bit pissed.

 

And of course i respect LMG's obligation to remove nefarious or illegal content from their boards, in fact i was very pleased at the reasonable response i received from a moderator, especially seeing as i hadn't really considered a hackintosh article to be against the T's and C's of LTT Forum before writing that article.

[fjdhdhcyfhf]

4 hours ago, DnFx91 said:

i finally just braved up enough to read the TOS, i didnt realise apple still technically own the OS when its running on your macbook, that's hilarious. 

 

The only software you can truly own is software licensed with copy left clause like GPL. I don't know how many time if explained this. When you buy software you are buying a Ticket/license to use that software under the terms specified by the copyright holder. Only the copyright holder owns software