Article by George Norman

On 18 Feb 2009

Want an iPhone app that can help you cheat in casinos, you’ve got it! Want an iPhone app that can warn you ahead of time of your girlfriend’s menstrual cycle, you’ve got it! Want an iPhone app that can deliver full episode guides, wallpapers, character likenesses to use as contact images and streaming clips of your favorite South Park episodes? I bet you do, but Apple says that might be offensive and has consequently rejected the South Park app – again. This is the second time that Apple rejects this app, which is rather curious to say the least.

“We first announced our iPhone App back in October, after we submitted the Application to Apple for approval. After a couple of attempts to get the application approved, we are sad to say that our app has been rejected. According to Apple, the content was "potentially offensive." But Apple did admit that the standards would evolve, citing that when iTunes first launched it didn't sell any music with explicit lyrics. At this point, we are sad to say, the app is dead in the water. Sorry, South Park fans,” said the app’s developers.


The thing that I find ironic is that there are other apps out there that have been approved and that might just as well be considered offensive. I am not talking about all the various fart apps that made it to the App store, I am talking about Wobble. It’s nothing personal, but Wobble is an iPhone app that lets you animate the breasts and buttocks of women and men, and then with a simple shake you can see them wobble. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I am pretty much sure that my next door neighbor will get offended when I show him a pick of his entire family that I’ve edited with Wobble.

Another ironic thing is that South Park episodes are already available through the iTunes Store, so rejecting an app that all it basically does is stream episodes from the show seems like madness to me. The EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) who has already pointed the finger at Apple for stating that jailbreaking the iPhone is against the law, had something to comment:

“The South Park app joins a growing list of other applications that have been barred from the Apple App Store for a variety of stated (or unstated) reasons. Apple is welcome to exclude applications from its App Store for whatever reasons it likes. But if competition is to work, then customers must have the freedom to choose another store. In other words, the problem here is the technical restrictions that prevent iPhone owners from being able to shop elsewhere. That is precisely why a DMCA exemption is in order, so that iPhone owners can go elsewhere for the applications that Apple refuses to include in its App Store.”



Tags: Apple, iTunes, App Store, South Park

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