Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!fernwood!portal!cup.portal.com!ts
From: ts@cup.portal.com (Tim W Smith)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Reserve engineering stuff,.....
Message-ID: <30664@cup.portal.com>
Date: 10 Jun 90 09:04:45 GMT
References: <1990Jun7.190751.10452@cs.utk.edu>
  <1990Jun7.202044.7800@eng.umd.edu> <41723@apple.Apple.COM>
Distribution: usa
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Lines: 22

Since large parts of the Mac OS are not in the ROM, your machine would
be useless as a Mac clone unless your users had an Apple System file.
Apple's licensing agreements say that you can't use their software on
non-Apple hardware, so all your users are in violation of their agreements
with Apple if they try to make your clone machine run Apple's System.

That right there would be enough to really dampen your corporate sales.

Furthermore, aren't there cases where perfectly reasonable things that are
only usefull for illegal purposes have been prevented from being sold?
For example, isn't it illegal to own lock picking tools in some places
unless you are a licensed locksmith?  Maybe Apple could make a case in
court that your machine is only bought by people who are going to illegally
use Apple software, and so should not be available.

One thing you could would be to clone the System file in addition to cloning
the ROM.  Now your main problem is that you will probably be at least a year
or more behind Apple in System file compatibility.  That might really hurt
your market.  On the other hand, if you machine cost a lot less, there might
be a lot of people who don't mind being a year or two behind.

							Tim Smith