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Hackintosher emerges from bankruptcy

And that's the bad news

The on-again, off-again slugfest between Apple and Hackintosher Psystar has taken yet another turn - and this one puts the feisty Floridians in a bit of a bind.

The US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida has granted Psystar's request to dismiss its Chapter 11 bankruptcy case. But there's a twist: The presiding judge, Robert A. Mark, has stipulated that the Hackintoshers can't delay their upcoming trial with Apple (scheduled to begin on January 11, 2010) by refiling for bankruptcy protection.

The exact period of the injunction against filing is unclear, as the dismissal order states "that this case is dismissed with prejudice to the filing of a petition under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code for a period of six (12) months from the date of this Order."

Calls to Psystar's lawyers to clarify if the period during which Psytar is barred from another bankruptcy filing is six months or 12 months were not returned.

The inability of Psystar to protect itself under the shield of bankruptcy not only prevents it from ducking the upcoming Apple trial - US law automatically puts a stay on court proceedings against companies under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection - but it also exposes the Hackintosher to legal actions which might be filed by its other creditors.

And there are plenty of them. When Psystar filed for bankruptcy in May of this year, court documents showed the company to be about $260,000 in debt.

This June, Apple successfully petitioned the Florida court to lift the automatic stay. And now Judge Mark has blocked Psystar from using the same bankruptcy dodge.

And so Psystar stand exposed. But it remains unbowed. In a recent post to its company blog entitled "The Circus Comes To Town," the spunky defendants told the world that Apple's lawyers were on their way to observe their facilities during the trial's discover phase, saying that "We believe the only thing they will discover is what we have been open about from the start, and of course the scorching Florida heat."

Psystar also said that they are "developing an addition to this Community site detailing an overview of the case and any relevant materials." We look forward to reading their take on the entire saga.

As Psystar's blogger wrote to end his "Circus" posting, "Stay tuned..." ®

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