Guys, guys...
Re: All this crap.
-EULA enforceability does vary by jurisdiction, contract law, etc. Germany seems to be in a bind with the GPL, of all things, because it's considered unlawful to agree to *revoke* certain rights in contract. Sure, EU law applies too, but it'll take Europe a while to even approach the level of coherency of the US... Intellectual property issues are presently a crapshoot everywhere. (As an aside - all USians, let's thank Lessig for bringing it to the Supreme Court, bungling his overeager argument, and accidentally proving Congress *can* extend copyright forever.
Thanks, Lawrence!)
-AInc. / Eyetech have gone to the 'dongled' technique in part *because* such covenants are unenforcable in certain parts of the world -- it's not about not running MacOS (though since Apple doesn't want other equipment running MacOS, that was one less reason to contract for an OpenFirmware when the simple PPCBoot/U-Boot loader could be brought up to snuff for free -- and they get the PR of supporting the open source project) ... it's about making it inconvenient to do the possibly-legal-but-maybe-not-what-the-company-needs-to-survive thing. You couldn't run Classic AmigaOS (post 1.x) without Kickstart ROMs; you couldn't run Classic MacOS (pre-9.x.x?) without Apple ROMs. There were better technical reasons back then (ROMs were fast, disks were small); today, the smaller fish can't claim a technical excuse, but they really could use that revenue.
-Apple are selling tools that may be used for copyright infringement or piracy. (Rip. Mix. Burn. Please don't steal music.)
-Eyetech are selling tools that may be used for copyright infringement or piracy...
-Copper wire and RCA connectors can be used for copyright infringement or piracy.
-Apple probably don't mind making the extra $100 off users who'd never touch their hardware anyway; similarly, they doubtless enjoy reserving the power to bring suit (re: the EULA) should such sales become a threat to their business model.
-Now, ignoring the debates of what the *law* allows you to do in your jurisdiction, here's a better question -- Why on earth should you support a platform that doesn't want you as a customer? However you use MoL, it means you'll be running Mac software, not Linux or Amiga software. Apple have bit the PowerPC community once, and, at present, have shown no interest in 'opening' their platform to other hardware. If you demand the arguable 'ease of use' of a Mac, you should probably be paying for a Mac. If you demand the GPL/BSDware available, you should be running the same on Linux or BSD, and if you demand the commercial software - fine, slink by in the gray area until ports occur, but you'd be remiss not to point the developers to your favorite OS4 or MOS.
-Especially in today's economy, software fees are unmaintanable, and while people *are* morons post-Napster, this endless He'sAPirateShe'sAPirateYou'reAPirateWe'reAllPirates whinging is crippling everyone's ability to conduct business. Apple's charged roughly $100 thrice now for OS X, which would, of course, be less an issue if the first two versions were little more than demos. (Nobody said it would be easy for them; nobody said they wanted to get screwed, either.) On the other hand, they do have the sense to have made the one license good for all Macs owned, instead of per-seat. Is this progress? Is it not progress? Vote with your dollars, *and don't give them the benefit of a userbase* if it's not worth the asking price.
-No matter where you are, it should be perfectly legal to *ask* a company to engage in maintanable practices for the mutual benefit of the end user and themselves. Make suggestions; petitions can be fun, but often the management already knows. If information wants to be free, don't follow the Napsterites error, and mistake piracy for a form of speech -- Linux, BSD, and AROS could always use a hand.