I was a part of a conversation on a community group that looks at church and technology that discussed a site selling cheap computers designed to become “Hackintoshes” (computer built to run Apple’s OS X that are not built by Apple). It’s another conversation that we saw with indie artists who were not getting paid and bigger artists coming along side them.
In my mind, I thought this was an easy conversation. It is illegal to have, so you should not purchase it nor should you endorse it. Apparently I was alone in this conversation.
Why Is It Illegal?
The website selling these devices are very clever in how they are promoting this. They sell you a computer that is blank, though the specs of the computer are perfect for installing a hacked copy of the software. They do not sell you a copy of OS X that will work on the machine.
Selling hardware in and of itself is not illegal. Selling pirated or hacked software and owning it is illegal.
In fact, if you go to the OS X website, you cant actually buy a copy of the software, you are only given the option to upgrade. Further, in Apple’s OS X EULA it states:
you are granted a limited, non-transferable, nonexclusive license
and further explicitly states:
to download, install, use and run for personal, non-commercial use, one (1) copy of the Apple Software directly on each Apple-branded computer running OS X Yosemite, OS X Mavericks, OS X Mountain Lion, OS X Lion or OS X Snow Leopard (“Mac Computer”) that you own or control
Finally, Apple has covered all of the bases with this final restriction:
The grants set forth in this License do not permit you to, and you agree not to, install, use or run the Apple Software on any non-Apple-branded computer, or to enable others to do so.
There is no grey here. You cannot put this software on a device, even as a virtual machine, unless the machine originally was granted a license already.
Is It Ethical?
It was later discussed that European courts are more lenient to customers with regards to software. I have yet to hear a court case that allows people to break this contract you agree to when you install the original software. (If I’m wrong, I’d love to read the court case documentation)
But for the sake of a good debate, let’s have a brief look at “what if it were deemed legal” if the courts had overturned this. Is it still okay for you to do?
The conversation then moves from one of legality to one of ethics. If a copy states they do not want you to do something, is it okay to go against their wishes? At this point, ethics does not care about the fact that you duplicated the software and have not taken their original copy.
Going back to the alternate example given at the top of this article with an indie artist, if people were to allow you to use their music for free but simply requested you appropriately and fully cite them as the source but you did not do so, have you been unethical? Yes. They deserve that recognition.
Apple is the same way with their operating system.
“But Apple is charging. And Apple is a huge organization that won’t miss that small amount of money.” Again, ethics doesn’t care about that. That’s a legal issue. Ethics are neutral to who is being hurt, instead stating that we should not do so.
Is It Sinning?
The short answer is yes. You are stealing as defined by the courts. You are not appropriately compensating Apple as they have laid out.
“But they are clearly sinning too with what they support, how they are trying to get out of taxes, and hoarding all their money.” A sin in response to a sin is no more justified than the original sin itself. It’s just that, justification. You disappoint God in doing so and you should not take part, legally, ethically, or spiritually.
Sean Leacy says
It’s so easy to pick and choose what ToS we want to follow and ignore the legality of it all. I find myself walking that line far too often and it’s not right. Great article, man.
Jeremy Smith says
Yeah… understood. Thanks for your authenticity.
CurtisMSP says
Apple gets far more money from tracking your behavior online than from the cash they collect upfront when you buy a Mac. Are you stealing something? Sure. Is Apple happy to have one more consumer with a credit card in their ecosystem? Yes they are.
It’s like if someone breaks into your house and leaves a $10 bill on your kitchen table. Illegal? Yes. A cause for great moral outrage? In the scheme of things, not really.
Jeremy Smith says
My understanding of Scriptures is that if it is wrong (i.e. sin), and it is, then we should not be doing it. And if you break into my house, I would absolutely have great moral outrage, FYI.
Eric Dye says
I don’t think this is a matter of “moral outrage” as much as it is a call to think about our actions. In this particular case, the action of theft.
Blessing Mpofu says
The biggest lie we tell often is “I have read, understood and agree to these terms and conditions”.
I know they’re long and tedious to read. Besides, what i also think I obvious, as Jeremy has already said in this post, what other “rules” are we breaking?
Blessing Mpofu says
Good one Jeremy; I concur.
The biggest lie we tell often is “I have read, understood and agree to these terms and conditions”.
I know they’re tedious to read… BUT… Besides what i also think is obvious, as Jeremy has already said in this post, what other “rules” are we breaking?
Jeremy Smith says
Thanks for the read. I use terms of service to fall asleep at night.
Kent Sanders says
Really thought-provoking article! I have known others who have put together a Hackintosh and then had trouble with various parts of the machine, including updates, because it wasn’t really an Apple product to begin with. To me, it’s not worth the hassle even if you save some money up front. I would rather by a genuine Apple machine that is covered with protection … and that I can take to the Apple Store when needed. 🙂
Jeremy Smith says
Thanks for the thoughts. I agree with all of that, but what are your thoughts on sin? Would you say doing so is sinning?
Graham says
I am no lawyer. I think the heart of the matter is not dualistic like we’d so often want. After all, the rules of man often have nothing to do with God, despite some people’s best efforts!
On law courts overturning terms and conditions, you may want to look at UsedSoft v Oracle amongst others.
You might want to consider if the software is sold to you or licensed to you. Even courts can’t agree on this one, so though the terms and conditions might state how the vendor wants it to be seen doesn’t mean that it is actually so. That also changes how the license can be intepreted.
Additionally, terms and conditions are too often a one way street in that the vender pushes their terms onto people who may have no choice. That isn’t ethical either. That doesn’t make things right, but does make things vastly less clear.
You also need to define sin, as I am not convinced that the law of a country just maps simply into God’s Kingdom. I would also be very cautious of turning terms and conditions of software into sin!
I do agree that people should have recompense for the work they do in a fair, non-exploitive manner the honors all parties. Do I know what that looks like? I am not sure.
On Apple, I stopped buying their products at the time the 3GS came out. It was then that it came apparent to me that Apple had an ActiveSync email client that claimed to store email in encrypted form to meet server requirements without ever actually encrypting the data on device. When I realised they were happy to place sensitive data at risk, it changed my perception of them to about as trustworthy as Microsoft or Google. How did I find this out? Suddenly on an iOS upgrade, only the 3GS indicated support for encryption. Not a good place to be when you are trying to deal with the board of directors of a bank.
Nope says
Continue in sin working on a hackintosh to provide for your family…
Or go into thousands of dollars of debt buying a real mac…
Thanks, jeremy