Apple has rejected an ebook reader app from the iPhone App Store over what seems to verge on censorship. Eucalyptus has been repeatedly rejected from the store because it can access ‘objectionable’ content.
Apple has faced criticism of its App Store policy in the past, with developers claiming they have little guidance as to what is acceeptable and decisions seemingly being made on an entirely arbitrary basis.
The decision to reject Eucalyptus is apparently due to the fact that users could use the app to access content that would contravene Apple’s policies on acceptable material. Accordinig to developer James Montgomerie, Apple claim that the app can display material that is “obscene, pornographic, offensive, or defamatory.” Eucalyptus is an ebook viewer that downloads content from the public domain Project Gutenberg e-library that contains thousands of volumes covering everything from literary classics, childrens books and erotica.
Putting aside the issue of whether Apple should be censoring content in this way, the ‘material’ in question was the Kama Sutra – hardly the most hardcore of reading material and, damningly, available via several other iPhone apps such as Stanza and Bookshelf. Montgomerie has said he will ‘rent out his soul’ and make a version of Eucalyptus that will censor the Kama Sutra, but it remains to be seen if this will satisfy Apple. There are, after all, lots more books with bad words in them.
TBC | £tbc | Eucalyptus (via Technologizer)
