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Apple Says They Will Not Distribute Porn

Apple Says They Will Not Distribute Porn

Posted June 26, 2009 at 1:58pm by iClarified
After pulling the plug on the Hottest Girls application, Apple has issued a statement saying they will not distribute inappropriate content on the App Store.

Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr told CNN, "Apple will not distribute applications that contain inappropriate content, such as pornography. The developer of this application [Hottest Girls] added inappropriate content directly from their server after the application had been approved and distributed, and after the developer had subsequently been asked to remove some offensive content. This was a direct violation of the terms of the iPhone Developer Program. The application is no longer available on the App Store."

This move is both understandable and questionable on Apple's part.


First, Apple clearly does not want to be seen as a company who is involved with distributing pornography. Parents will likely think twice about Apple both from a moral standpoint and as customers. If parents are under the impression that kids are getting access to inappropriate content from their iPods they will likely purchase some other device in its place.

That being said, pornography is legal. Apple should not be able to control what type of applications users put on their device. In fact, the application "Hottest Girls" doesn't really qualify as pornography. A topless woman is legal in many places and even found regularly in many newspapers. Calling this application inappropriate content seems like a questionable decision. Even if it is inappropriate, children would need their parent's credit card number or account access and they would need to circumvent the parental control settings on iTunes and their device.

Is this a wise decision by Apple? Is it the right decision? Sound off in the comments...

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Apple Says They Will Not Distribute Porn
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Comments (14)
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ernstlustig
ernstlustig - June 29, 2009 at 4:40am
Who says Apple, denies freedom. Who says Apple, refuses to use his brains. I do not consider this Apple's philosophy in the first place. It is simply a matter of maximising Apple's profit and shareholder value. I love my iPhone, but I dislike Apple's so-called political correctness. So, in the end we all behave like sheep and follow the grand priest.
apodoca
apodoca - June 26, 2009 at 8:41pm
Apple's store; Apple's rules. Apple has a right to decide what's available in that store. Apart from parental controls, there's the integrity of the Apple brand. Their right to decide what's associated with that trumps the other guy's right to sell a legal product when he decides to use their facility to do his sales. If he changed the product after he and Apple reached an agreement, then he pulled a bait and switch that is a violation of his agreement with Apple. Note that Apple is not telling him do not sell. Apple is just telling him "not here."
ernstlustig
ernstlustig - June 29, 2009 at 4:46am
You have agreed to the terms of service. If you want your money back you either ask politely or you contest the TOS, which would involve paying lawyer's fees. :(
Stevieg
Stevieg - June 26, 2009 at 7:54pm
Man, then what the hell is the point of having parental control if you're not going to use it?
Jeff
Jeff - June 26, 2009 at 7:19pm
http://getapp.info/download/HottestGirls-2.0-itaintrite.ipa ....Here it is if you want it? http://hackulo.us/forums/index.php?showtopic=28842 ....What you Need, READ HERE..
yiyopr
yiyopr - June 26, 2009 at 4:00pm
I paid for this app, and know apple remotely deleted it. This is just insane, I understand why they would remove it from their servers so nobody else would buy it, but if its already paid for they can't just take it away without at least refunding the money. Is anyone here a lawyer, because this has to be breaking a law, they can't just take merchandise back without refunding the money???
Sean
Sean - June 26, 2009 at 3:13pm
I WANT A REFUND. Since Apple approved the app, it was released by them and then THEY chose to delete the app, shouldn't Apple refund the money? Everything was done on their part so they should be at fault and refund anyone who purchased the App
Sean
Sean - June 26, 2009 at 3:10pm
UPDATE, the app is no longer functional. Says that the version will no longer work and to delete the APP
Sean
Sean - June 26, 2009 at 3:08pm
Ok, they removed the app from the Store, BUT will this be the first test of Apple's ability to remotely delete programs that already out in the open? Lets stay tuned for this one.....
Frank Dickson
Frank Dickson - June 26, 2009 at 2:42pm
What about all the adult crap in the podcasts?? Label it with an [EXPLICIT] tag and let the customer choose!
Jay
Jay - June 26, 2009 at 2:24pm
Why can you download a Movie from the iTunes store that has nudity and not a Application for the iPhone? I dont see a difference. I agree that Apple should not be allowed to senor content. A child should not have a cell phone. In order to have a Apple account you should have to input all of you information when you make it including Birth date. The birth date would not ever be able to be changed and should dictate what you can and can not download.
Dino
Dino - June 26, 2009 at 2:13pm
First off, let me say I have nothing against porn whatsoever. But this statement: "That being said, pornography is legal. Apple should not be able to control what type of content users put on their device." isn't an accurate representation of the situation. Apple isn't governing what people can or can not put on their devices. I can put all kinds of porn photos, videos and websites on my iPhone. What they are saying is they won't be a party to its distribution through their store, which I think is a smart decision on Apple's part. Would I be upset if they did offer porn apps through the App Store? Not at all. But choosing not to do so in no way dictates what iphone users can have on their device. If this brings up any issue, it really just gets back to the issue of Apple's iron-fisted control over iPhone apps in general, porn or not.
iClarified
iClarified - June 26, 2009 at 3:03pm
Noted. I changed the wording to 'applications' instead of content to make it more clear. Thanks.
Mike
Mike - June 26, 2009 at 10:20pm
All the more reason to jailbreak these devices. Yes, apple will control their little domain, but until they start giving these phones away for free, we should have full control of what we put on them.
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