is using OSX in a VM illegal?
Community Forums/General Help/is using OSX in a VM illegal?
| ||
| hello, I have been using OSX in virtualbox for on the go mac devlopment. People tell me that it is illegal to do this. I have a real Mac in my office, but is it really illegal to use OSX in a virtual machine? Last edited 2012 |
| ||
| no, not here anyway, and really who cares if it is. Morally if you have bought the software you should be able to install it on anything that will run it. Although apple don't like it and is against their eula... but again really who cares? It is not as if they are gonna send the "squad" round is it. (too expensive) Last edited 2012 |
| ||
| lol thnx d4nm4n |
| ||
| Well... yes and no. Is it illegal to run OS X in a virtual machine or natively on your PC? No. Does it violate Apple's EULA? Yes. |
| ||
| Running OSX in a virtual machine is like running at the swimming pool. You are breaking their rules, not an actual law. They can do anything in their power, like not let you get updates and stuff, but you are not doing anything that would bring legal ramifications. |
| ||
| TBH if it works go for it, after all Apple have been making OSX only install on specific hardware for years so if it works it must be seen as 'apple hardware' so I cant see the problem and neither would a judge. |
| ||
| It violates the Apple EULA, which may or may not be a problem depending on where you live. In the US, courts have ruled specifically against this -- Most notably, Psistar was selling generic whitebox PC's with OS X pre-installed, and shipped them alongside a retail boxed copy of OS X in an attempt to make it legal. They got sued by Apple for breach of the OS X EULA (which dictates that OS X is only allowed to be installed on apple-branded hardware), and the court ruled in Apple's favor. Apple's reasoning was that any retail copy of OS X is to be considered an -upgrade- version, which requires an existing OS X license which only comes with new Apple-branded hardware. In other countries, different laws may apply, and additional consumer protections may be in place. |
| ||
| whitebox PC's with OS X pre-installed isn't this installing on non apple hardware? does the license agreement say anything about using the recovery partition to install OSX on a virtual machine such as parallels then converting it to work on virtualbox? This is what I have done, How is this wrong if I bought the PC, the OS and Parallels Workstation to do this with? if it works it must be seen as 'apple hardware' so I cant see the problem and neither would a judge. but since it is a vm, is this actually installing on non apple hardware? What would be the problem? If its not 'legal' to run MacOS on PC, why is it legal to run Windows on the Macs? Last edited 2012 |
| ||
| Technically speaking the VM is emulating hardware that is compatible with OSX hence Apple 'emulated' hardware. VM's always will be a grey area of any EULA. |
| ||
| If it's not 'legal' to run MacOS on a PC, why is it legal to run windows on the Macs? Because Apple has explicit terms of use prohibiting OS X to run on a PC, while Microsoft doesn't give a flying hoot what you run it on -- you can use it as a doorstop for all they care, as long as you're willing to fork over the money. Apple uses the software to leverage their hardware sales, while MS doesn't sell computers for their operating systems. |
| ||
| isn't this installing on non apple hardware? does the license agreement say anything about using the recovery partition to install OSX on a virtual machine such as parallels then converting it to work on virtualbox? This is what I have done, How is this wrong if I bought the PC, the OS and Parallels Workstation to do this with? There's nothing wrong with that. It's perfectly legal, no one can do anything against you for doing so. Apple is a little bit like a little kid in that area. They want you to use OS X on their own hardware. They will make a :( face when you run it on a PC, naturally they don't support it, but that's it. Now if you're trying to sell PCs with OS X preinstalled... well it's still legal but who would win that lawsuit? ;) The guys with the money. Because they make a :( sad face. As long as you do it in the private sector and under the radar, Apple will never know about it. And even if they did... they can't sue you for it, force financial penalties on you, or throw you into jail. You have not broken any country's law. I wouldn't worry about it too much. |
| ||
| There's a German manufacturer of PC clones with a legal Apple Os X license. Apple sued them ad Apple losed, so in Germany it's legal and Apple is forced to support the customer. Can't remember the brand name, but maybe someone here can give any clues. The bad news is that they do not ship outside Germany. |
| ||
| As i said, it does not matter -where- you live, who really cares and how are apple gonna find out? Even if they do, what are they really going to do about it? Any lawsuit action against a small time private individual in this matter who has no cash in comparison would A) be a waste of time, and B) make them look -really- bad in the PR dept. |
| ||
| Except it DOES matter where you live, because in some countries the laws allow Apple to make the exceptions they do, and in other countries the laws don't. Like it or not, that doens't make it any less true. |
| ||
| As an aside: just noticed an article from yesterday that the supreme court denied an appeal from Psystar to hear their case about selling OS X bundled with non-Apple computers, meaning that the original verdict an permanent injunction against it stand... |
| ||
| Except it DOES matter where you live How? what are they going to do about it??Sure Apple would definetly attempt to go after suppliers and others selling "fake" rigs en-masse (like pystar), but as i said, it would neither be in their interest or worthwhile going after private individuals who do it for their own use in their own homes. Best they can do is ban your device from using itunes (what a shame). Seriously though, it is about as prosecutable as "stealing" 10 packets of sugar from McDonalds because your office has run out, no one really cares, including the staff.. Last edited 2012 |
| ||
| Best they can do is ban your device from using itunes (what a shame). LOL! :D |
| ||
| He asked if it was illegal - Not if he could get away with it. |
| ||
| True, but it is like knowingly buying a fake T-Shirt. no one cares about the Joe who bought it (despite him breaking the law). So a law that ridiculous was basically not designed to be enforced outside of big business. it is essentially "corporate" law and is not really applicable to private non profiting individuals (and pointless trying to pursue a legal course) unless there is lots of money to be made (or saved) by taking it to court. |
   |