James Delahunty
16 Aug 2009 22:48
In a letter brief filed in the ongoing court battle between Apple and the "Mac clone maker" Psystar, Apple has accused Psystar of destroying valuable evidence. Psystar sells what it calls "Open Computers", and gives an option to have Mac OS X Leopard pre-installed on a new system. Apple guards its operating system software for use with its computers only, and it sued Psystar, alleging that it breached the DMCA and the Max OS X license.
Apple claims that in order for Psystar's systems to have been made Mac-compatible, Psystar had to circumvent technical elements of the software that prevents its unauthorized use. The company accused Psystar of improperly modifying or reverse engineering its software to enable it to run on these unauthorized systems - Psystar's "Open Computers".
"Defendant, Psystar Corporation, has destroyed relevant evidence that it was legally required to preserve. Specifically, Psystar has overwritten -- i.e., erased -- infringing versions of the software code used on computers sold to its customers," the letter reads. Apple says that Psystar has erased prior versions of its software. This discovery was made when the company deposed Rodolfo Pedraza, CEO of Psystar, in order to discover how the company was circumventing the "technological protection measures".
The destruction of evidence that has been sought by an opposing party in a legal dispute - called "spoliation" - is held in very low regards by the courts. If its true, then things will become a lot harder for Psystar.