Apple confronts Wired over Mac OS X netbook hacking tutorial

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
A December video tutorial teaching viewers how to modify a netbook to run Mac OS X has landed tech magazine Wired in hot water with Apple's legal department.



Wired's Brian X. Chen*posted*a video podcast to the*Gadget Lab*blog on December 1st that demonstrated the installation of an "illegal, hacked version" of Mac OS X Leopard onto an MSI Wind netbook.



"I start out by telling you where to download the hacked operating system software," Chen wrote.* "You'll also need to download and install a copy of OSX86 tools.* Then I walk you through the steps of how to put the OS on a USB flash drive (at least 4GB) to copy it onto the netbook."



Just hours ago, Chen*sent an update to his Twitter account: "Just found out Apple is suing Wired for my video tutorial on hacking netbooks to run Mac OS X.* One hell of a way to start off the day." It later turned out that Chen misunderstood the situation, and a formal complaint has not been lodged with the US court system.



Since then, copies of the video have disappeared one-by-one from the original entry at Wired's site and from YouTube. However, a lone copy of the video remained on the video sharing website as of press time, which can be seen below.



Mac OS X running on the hacked netbook.



Apple has most likely sent a cease-and-desist letter to*Condé Nast Publications, Wired's parent company, rather than suing for monetary damages.* The Cupertino-based Mac maker probably took issue with Chen's links and directions to websites where readers could download illegal hacked versions of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, although he did encourage viewers to compensate.



"It would be very polite to have your own purchased retail version of Mac OS X Leopard," Chen says in the video before giving the URLs.







Apple in recent months has been stepping up its efforts to protect its proprietary software from hackers who wish to free it from the company's encapsulated and tightly-knit ecosystem. This past February, the company fired off a cease-and-desist notice to developers of the Hymn Project, software that stripped FairPlay DRM from iTunes Music Store purchases. A similar legal complaint was delivered last*November*to users of a wiki called Bluwiki who were seeking to modify the iTunesDB index file to enable iPod touch and iPhone syncing with Winamp and Songbird instead of iTunes.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 44
    virgil-tb2virgil-tb2 Posts: 1,416member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    A December video tutorial teaching viewers how to modify a netbook to run Mac OS X has landed tech magazine Wired in hot water with Apple's legal department....



    Can you say "direct fall-out from Psystar case?" I knew you could.



    I've seen tutorials like this with the same level of detail on the web for years, but now Apple has an obligation to shut them down. Thanks Psystar!
  • Reply 2 of 44
    Encouraging others to install "illegal" software can get them into trouble; however if Mr. Chen demonstrated how to install OS X using middleware Hackintosh, which does not require an illegally modified version of OS X, things would've been different.
  • Reply 3 of 44
    My Gosh, Apples gone stark raving mad, first they shut down Think Secret, now they want to censer Wired, where does it end, there's this little thing called free speech, which you'd think a liberal company like Apple would try to respect. If Apple doesn't like the fact that there os can be hacked, than for crying out loud, change the friggin' code!
  • Reply 4 of 44
    denmarudenmaru Posts: 208member
    I'll gladly host it on my site.

    Really, these C&Ds are becoming annoying - in this case, they are even totally baseless, since information about how to do something is never illegal. It's just the same with Torrent Trackers - they are note illegal per se, since no material is hosted on them.
  • Reply 5 of 44
    leonardleonard Posts: 528member
    If you want to make your own Hackintosh, go ahead, but you should know better than to try and sell them, or advertise how to make them, as now your stepping on Apple's turf. Simple as that. Psystar tried, they'll be out of business. This wired video will be down by the end of the day.
  • Reply 6 of 44
    virgil-tb2virgil-tb2 Posts: 1,416member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Leonard View Post


    If you want to make your own Hackintosh, go ahead, but you should know better than to try and sell them, or advertise how to make them, as now your stepping on Apple's turf. Simple as that. Psystar tried, they'll be out of business. This wired video will be down by the end of the day.



    It would have made a better video if the guy had actually used a legal copy of OS-X too. It's way harder that way, but more interesting.
  • Reply 7 of 44
    virgil-tb2virgil-tb2 Posts: 1,416member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Denmaru View Post


    I'll gladly host it on my site.

    Really, these C&Ds are becoming annoying - in this case, they are even totally baseless, since information about how to do something is never illegal. It's just the same with Torrent Trackers - they are note illegal per se, since no material is hosted on them.



    The part when he tells you about the site to go to to get the hacked copy of OS-X is illegal AFAIK. He is advising people on how to get around the copy protection and/or how to get a copy of the hacked OS.
  • Reply 8 of 44
    zunxzunx Posts: 620member
    Apple, just give us a 0.4 kg Netbook like the OQO or else allow to license Mac OS X for it! The MacBook Air is too limited, too large and too heavy!



    http://www.oqo.com
  • Reply 9 of 44
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Virgil-TB2 View Post


    It would have made a better video if the guy had actually used a legal copy of OS-X too. It's way harder that way, but more interesting.



    Not that hard - I did it with Boot 132 and a retail copy of OS X on my Dell Mini 9. Was quite painless, and the machine runs great.
  • Reply 10 of 44
    hillstoneshillstones Posts: 1,490member
    The problem was what he said in the video, to use an illegally hacked version of OS X found on the internet. When I watched the video back in December, I thought he was stupid for telling people to use an illegally hacked version of OS X, and then telling people how to make it work, again illegally. Doesn't surprise me Apple is mad. I would be mad too if someone was telling people how to steal something that was my intellectual right.
  • Reply 11 of 44
    hillstoneshillstones Posts: 1,490member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by zunx View Post


    Apple, just give us a 0.4 kg Netbook or else license Mac OS X for it! The MacBook Air is too limited, too large and too heavy!



    It is pretty funny watching people squinting and straining trying to read and type on their miniture netbooks thinking they are a real notebook computer. Can't exactly hold one up to your face to try and type on it, then you would look even more stupid for wasting your money on one!



    Since a netbook is used for nothing more than surfing the internet, why do you need Mac OS X? You're not going to use it for any other programs, so what's the big deal? Windows has a good web browser and email client, so that's all you need. Netbooks are underpowered for anything else.
  • Reply 12 of 44
    buckbuck Posts: 293member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by BB Sting View Post


    My Gosh, Apples gone stark raving mad, first they shut down Think Secret, now they want to censer Wired, where does it end, there's this little thing called free speech, which you'd think a liberal company like Apple would try to respect. If Apple doesn't like the fact that there os can be hacked, than for crying out loud, change the friggin' code!



    Apple is in this business for the MONEY! It's not there to help you with free speech. They put great efforts into their products and expecting them to just say "oh, these lovely folks are deprieving us of the expected income - well whatever! - we'll just go play in a field of daisies" is a bit wrong.
  • Reply 13 of 44
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by zunx View Post


    Apple, just give us a 0.4 kg Netbook like the OQO or else allow to license Mac OS X for it! The MacBook Air is too limited, too large and too heavy!



    http://www.oqo.com



    'xactly!
  • Reply 14 of 44
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    They should have just lied and said they bought a copy at the Apple store, at least that wouldn't have sounded as stupid as this. God knows what they were thinking.
  • Reply 15 of 44
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by afishertx View Post


    Not that hard - I did it with Boot 132 and a retail copy of OS X on my Dell Mini 9. Was quite painless, and the machine runs great.



    afishertx, prepare to be sacked by the Apple lawyers. 3, 2, 1...
  • Reply 16 of 44
    tony1tony1 Posts: 259member
    Can this be done on any current non Apple laptop? Just curious.



    All the wares I use on a daily basis are legal including all my copies of OS X. I run a business and would feel too much like a leach other-wise. My God, Apples market share is small enough.



    The funny thing about this is how many PC'rs there are that put down Apple and yet they invest the time coming up with these hacks. I guess they are Macaphobes? Glad I own the real thing and quality at that.
  • Reply 17 of 44
    Why is Apple turning from the "creative" brand to the "locked up, intolerant, inflexible" Nazi brand?
  • Reply 18 of 44
    neilmneilm Posts: 985member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Kalachakra View Post


    Why is Apple turning from the "creative" brand to the "locked up, intolerant, inflexible" Nazi brand?



    Been asleep long? <g>



    Apple is in the business of creating Macintoshes, not in having others create Macintoshes.
  • Reply 19 of 44
    g3prog3pro Posts: 669member
    I think Apple has lost its mind in more ways than one.
  • Reply 20 of 44
    nagrommenagromme Posts: 2,834member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Kalachakra View Post


    Why is Apple turning from the "creative" brand to the "locked up, intolerant, inflexible" Nazi brand?



    What non-Nazi brands are you thinking of that don't mind links to pirate copies of their products being promoted by magazines?



    Nothing has changed. Apple has always defended their IP, as any company must. The necessary Intel switch opened a can of worms, but it didn't take away Apple's creativity.
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