Apple & Antitrust

Psystar claims Apple’s restrictions on third-party hardware makers violate U.S. antitrust laws. Mac Clone Maker Psystar Plans Antitrust Suit Against Apple [InformationWeek].

Woah, that’s absolutely ridiculous. A manufacturer cannot “monpolize” the market for its own products, and whether or not Apple’s refusal to license Mac OS X is a good business strategy, the Sherman Act permits it to keep the Mac a closed ecosystem. At least and until Apple’s market share of PCs get somewhere within lurking distance of Windows’ 90%+, there is no conceivable problem here. But like the iPod/iTunes “tying” cases — pending class actions filed last December — it is often and unfortunately more economic for a company to settled such bogus claims than to litigate them. Hope Apple shows some real backbone on this one!