Are "hackintosh"s legal?

interesting question… I guess it would. ( I’m not positive.. I’ll do some research about it.)

Isn’t it “Apple-branded”?

No, I just looked at the EULA. It’s labeled.

Hmm. Still, I’m pretty sure that someone would have challenged it if Apple’s lawyers screwed up. You could be the first! :)

Do they define “labeled” elsewhere in the Agreement?

Not as far as I could see.

The passage goes…

“2. Permitted License Uses and Restrictions.
A. This License allows you to install and use one copy of the Apple Software on a single Apple-labeled computer at a time. This License does not allow the Apple Software to exist on more than one
computer at a time, and you may not make the Apple Software available over a network where it could be used by multiple computers at the same time. If you use Setup Assistant to transfer
software from one Apple-labeled computer to another Apple-labeled computer, please remember that continued use of the original copy of the software may be prohibited once a copy has been
transferred to another computer, unless you already have a licensed copy of such software on both computers. You should check the relevant software license agreements for applicable terms and
conditions. You may make one copy of the Apple Software (excluding the Boot ROM code) in machine-readable form for backup purposes only; provided that the backup copy must include all
copyright or other proprietary notices contained on the original.
B. Certain components of the Apple Software, and third party open source programs included with the Apple Software, have been or may be made available by Apple on its Open Source web site
(http://www.opensource.apple.com/) (collectively the “Open-Sourced Components”). You may modify or replace only these Open-Sourced Components; provided that: (i) the resultant modified
Apple Software is used, in place of the unmodified Apple Software, on a single Apple-labeled computer; and (ii) you otherwise comply with the terms of this License and any applicable licensing
terms governing use of the Open-Sourced Components. Apple is not obligated to provide any maintenance, technical or other support for the resultant modified Apple Software.
C. Except as and only to the extent permitted in this License, by applicable licensing terms governing use of the Open-Sourced Components, or by applicable law, you may not copy, decompile,
reverse engineer, disassemble, modify, or create derivative works of the Apple Software or any part thereof. THE APPLE SOFTWARE IS NOT INTENDED FOR USE IN THE OPERATION OF NUCLEAR
FACILITIES, AIRCRAFT NAVIGATION OR COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS, AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS, LIFE SUPPORT MACHINES OR OTHER EQUIPMENT IN WHICH THE FAILURE OF THE APPLE
SOFTWARE COULD LEAD TO DEATH, PERSONAL INJURY, OR SEVERE PHYSICAL OR ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE.
3. Transfer. You may not rent, lease, lend, redistribute or sublicense the Apple Software. You may, however, make a one-time permanent transfer of all of your license rights to the Apple Software
(in its original form as provided by Apple) to another party, provided that: (a) the transfer must include all of the Apple Software, including all its component parts, original media, printed materials
and this License; (b) you do not retain any copies of the Apple Software, full or partial, including copies stored on a computer or other storage device; and© the party receiving the Apple Software
reads and agrees to accept the terms and conditions of this License. You may not rent, lease, lend, redistribute, sublicense or transfer any Apple Software that has been modified or replaced under
Section 2B above. All components of the Apple Software are provided as part of a bundle and may not be separated from the bundle and distributed as standalone applications.
Updates: If an Apple Software update completely replaces (full install) a previously licensed version of the Apple Software, you may not use both versions of the Apple Software at the same time nor
may you transfer them separately.
NFR (Not for Resale) Copies: Notwithstanding other sections of this License, Apple Software labeled or otherwise provided to you on a promotional basis may only be used for demonstration,
testing and evaluation purposes and may not be resold or transferred.”

Perhaps the fatal shot is in the fact that reverse-engineering of the software is required?

Also worth mentioning that this isn’t really illegal, it’s a breach of your contract with Apple.

Right. I wouldn’t worry about the legality of the situation; I’d worry that some of your hardware might not be compatible with the current OS or with future updates. Fooling the EULA is the easy part. You’re welcome to simply disregard it.

However, if one was to wish to sell hackintoshes, I believe that they could prosecute as they’re trying to do with Psystar. Is that true?

No it isn’t legal, unless it is an Apple product.

Because Apple is like that.

And sticking a sticker on it doesn’t make it Apple branded, everything inside has data written into it stating that it is an Apple product inside and out, from hard drives to disc drives to LCD screens to keyboards, you name it, in some form or another there is built in data that says it is Apple, putting a decal on it doesn’t always mean it is “branded”

You can’t sell anything with an Apple sticker on under trademark law.

Until the licence agreement is tested in court of law, there is no right or wrong answer.

Unfortunately, apple is a very rich company, with very scary lawyers. This discourages most (sane) people from taking it that far…

I read somewhere (on Fluther, I think, don’t quote me on this) that you can install MacOSX on as many computers as you like (Apple computers that is) with no activation and all that and it’s okay…” This License does not allow the Apple Software to exist on more than one computer at a time” maybe not eh?

The license doesn’t allow it, but certain naughty folks I know can vouch for their being no physical restriction as to using one license multiple times – merely an obligation set out in the EULA that you’re supposed to abide by.

Actually, you can install it on 5 computers within the same household with one copy.
And, it never ONCE mentions BRANDED. merely labeled. Legally, labeled can me a variety of things, since it doesn’t define it. The trademark law is a good point, however, one could make the argument of it being like selling a car with a bumper sticker on it. If they give them out for free, to stick them somewhere, why not stick it on your computer?

A single Apple License is valid on a single computer. You’re thinking of a family pack license, which costs slightly more, and allows installation on up to 5 machones in the same household.

@skwerl88: If I started giving out free Apple stickers I’d made myself, they could sue me for trademark infringement.

yea if you sold them for a price.

Also don’t forget, every product apple sells comes with those big white apple stickers.

Hmmm. There must be a way around this. I mean, all you need is one of the little stickers that tells you the variety of an apple, stick it on your machine, and it’s technically ‘apple labeled’... no copyright infringement there ;)

@XCNuse: No. You don’t have to be making money for it to be trademark infringement. You cannot use the Apple logo on anything. You could probably sell the stickers they provide with no problem.

Sure you can use it on all sorts of things, haven’t you seen those apple branded Volkswagens? :D

if you made your own apple stickers that looked similar and sold them, then yes you could be going against something (in a perfect world that is, no one would care honestly…)

If you sold the real apple stickers, I don’t know, you probably wouldn’t.

yes, use real apple stickers to sell fake apples :) sounds good to me.

Sticking an Apple logo sticker on a computer most certainly does not make it “Apple-labeled.” The term label applies to a genuine certificate, licensing document, registration card, or similar labeling component.

Yes, but apple doesn’t define that in their Eula.

They don’t need to define it in their EULA, that’s the standard legal definition of “label” as they’ve used it. It’s not up to us to define it, it’s already been defined. They don’t have the legal responsibility to define every word used in their EULA

When I hear ‘label’, I don’t think of any of those things, I think of paper labels ;)

Well, you’d think with something as important as their right to install on a machine they’d add the definition of labeled, something along the lines of “something manufactured, and labeled by Apple Inc.”

Well even if one were to misunderstand the concept of a legal label, that doesn’t change that fact that you can’t install unmodified Apple operating systems on any machine other then an Apple one anyway. In order to install on a non-Apple machine, you’d have to hack the software which is yet another clear violation of Apple’s EULA.

No, you can do it without hacking the software. Also, what’s your definition of hacking? Modifying outside the boundaries set forth in my Eula?

Breefield is right, there are solutions that require no modifications to the software supplied by Apple, and as such is not strictly an EULA violation.

A label, legally, can be considered a “mark, design, or statement placed upon goods to indicate their place of origin or their content.” Now, technically because its an apple sticker, and Apple provides the OS, not ALL of the parts inside, as long as one was to use the same parts as a Mac, the label would be valid, provided its one acquired from Apple itself… Right?

All this aside, at the end of the day, even if you think you have found a loophole, you don’t stand a chance against a crack team of lawyers with a $3bn cash reserve backing them.

Oh, I absolutely would never go through with it. The more I think about it, the worse of an idea I think it to be. However, it could be a possible suggestion for Psystar.

I like to pretend that it’s legal. At the very least, it is logical.

You can legally build anything in this country whether it be a computer or a car. It only becomes illegal when you try to sell a copyright or patented product. For example I can build a HP like computer from parts I buy, put Windows on it but I can’t legally sell it. I can also build my own motorcycle, put a Harley engine on it but I can’t sell it because of patents.