In a dramatic move, that may be remembered as one of the great acts of censorship, Apple Inc. pulled all “Sexy or Porn Related Applications” from the Itunes App Store effectually removing anything that could be perceived as sexually provocative.
To much skin for Cupertino
The brief and to the point form email went out the evening of the 18th, after most US businesses had closed, and stated simply that:
The App Store continues to evolve, and as such, we are constantly refining our guidelines. Your application, INSERT NAME HERE, contains content that we had originally believed to be suitable for distribution. However, we have recently received numerous complaints from our customers about this type of content, and have changed our guidelines appropriately. We have decided to remove any overtly sexual content from the App Store, which includes your application. Thank you for your understanding in this matter. If you believe you can make the necessary changes so that INSERT NAME HERE complies with our recent changes, we encourage you to do so and resubmit for review. Sincerely, iPhone App Review
Most of the victims will remain silent. SuicideGirls.com, Sunny Leone, Aria Giovanni, Cutest Girls, Cyberage.com… all successful apps that survived the approval process only to be removed arbitrarily. These are small brands, unimportant in the grand scheme of things. There are no strategic partnerships to be had, no branding opportunities, no software, movie or music rights for Apple to use at a later point.
Not everyone is upset though, Playboy still has their application in the store, as does Sports Illustrated. Big names, big brands and suddenly Apple’s scruples don’t seem to get in the way. Scruples, that are noticeably out of place from a company that sells R rated movies, songs with explicit lyrics and violent and sexual video games.
This is OK, because its got bunny ears
Apple has always been outstanding at brand control. Their products are uniform, their name pristine and clear in the consumers mind. This has been accomplished by strict quality control, consistent messages and careful marketing, but it is our belief that what was good business practice has become a Religion. Don’t get us wrong, we love our iphones and ipods, but not so much that we willing to let Steve Jobs and the turtlenecked clones at Cupertino tell us what we can and can’t do with our own mobiles. Mobile porn not only exists, its prolific and desired and there is nothing Apple can do to stop people from watching on their precious devices.
So what happens now? Android is looking pretty good, as is blackberry, palm pre and any other mobile platform not protected by zealots and hypocrites.
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