Appeals court: Apple can continue to restrict OS X to Mac hardware

Apple has the right to continue restricting its operating systems to its own hardware thanks to a decision handed down by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday. Circuit Judge Mary Schroeder wrote in her opinion that Apple's Mac OS X licensing agreement was indeed enforceable against Psystar, which had sold non-Mac computers with Mac OS X installed.

Psystar had previously been held in violation of Apple's copyrights by a District Court, and did not appeal that ruling. Instead, in its appeal, Psystar argued that the OS X licensing agreement was an "unlawful attempt to extend copyright protection to products that are not copyrightable"—an argument that the Ninth Circuit has now dismissed.