Corynne McSherry from the Electronic Frontier Foundation sez, "Apple has rejected an iPhone application that exclusively displays content from EFF's RSS feed. Apparently it objects to an EFF blog post that linked to Brad Templeton's Downfall remix (also mentioned on Boing Boing last week, BTW). The parody includes the fleeting appearance of the f-bomb in a subtitle."
This is just the latest example of the failings of Apple's iTunes App Store approval process, which has been revealed to be not just anti-competitive, discriminatory, censorial, and arbitrary, but downright absurd. Just last month, Apple was widely criticized when it rejected the Eucalyptus e-book reader because it could access the public domain translation of the Kama Sutra (Apple quickly reversed course on that one).
Let's be clear: we are not saying that Apple has to carry apps it doesn't like in its App Store. But iPhone owners who don't want Apple playing the role of language police for their software should have the freedom to go elsewhere. This is precisely why EFF has asked the Copyright Office to grant an exemption to the DMCA for jailbreaking iPhones. It's none of Apple's business if I want an app on my phone that lets me read EFF's RSS feed, use Sling Player over 3G, or read the Kama Sutra.
Apple Rejects EFF Updates App, Claims Parody Content Is Objectionable
(Thanks, Corynne!)
