Apple's CEO and now busy emailer Steve Jobs, has responded to an Apple customer over concerns that the company is playing the role of moral guardian, banning anything deemed inappropriate from the iTunes App Store.
Mac fan Matthew Browing emailed Jobs following news that Apple had apparently banned an iPhone application from Pulitzer Prize winning editorial cartoonist Mark Fiore, ruling it had broken App Store rules by lampooning public figures. "Apple’s role isn’t moral police - Apple’s role is to design and produce really cool gadgets that do what the consumer wants them to do," Browing pleaded to Apple's CEO.
Jobs, who has significantly upped the number of times he replies to emails recently, reportedly sent the following reply: "Fiore’s app will be in the store shortly. That was a mistake. However, we do believe we have a moral responsibility to keep porn off the iPhone. Folks who want porn can buy and Android phone."
Jobs took a dig at Google's Android platform earlier this month when Apple unveiled the next iPhone OS. "You know, there’s a porn store for Android. You can download nothing but porn. You can download porn, your kids can download porn. That’s a place we don’t want to go - so we’re not going to go there," Jobs told invited guests during the Q&A session after the iPhone 4.0 OS event.
TechCrunch, who first revealed the email correspondence, believes the reply is real. Jobs has been increasingly critical of Google in recent months, reportedly saying the search giant is out to "kill" the iPhone.
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Comments received
Xhris2210 said on Tue, 20 Apr 2010
Now this annoys me. Last time I looked over 18s were given the option of choosing for themselves what they should and shouldn't be able to see. This isn't about porn, it's about censorship and it's about control. This is the unacceptable face of Apple. I love the products and hate the attitude [so far as this goes].
alroma said on Tue, 20 Apr 2010
Three cheers for Steve.
Chris1966 said on Tue, 20 Apr 2010
Xhris2210 if you want porn you know where to go so it isn't a problem. There are always stores that don't stock certain things because it doesn't mesh with their public image. I think it's perfectly reasonable for a store to this is a line we do not cross. As long as you know that is the case then it isn't a problem.
2003 said on Tue, 20 Apr 2010
In a family situation an iPhone can be picked by any of the children...I for one am glad there's no Porn in the AppStore. If you want it plenty of other ways to get..its a store, you go shop in it, if they've not got what you want then go elsewhere...!
Magone said on Tue, 20 Apr 2010
What is it about Jobs?
Can he do no wrong?
In my humble opinion the answer NO, he can do no wrong.
Everything he seems to touch turns to gold. Now I know (because I'm old) that this doesn't come easy. To be as successful as Apple you have to be good at a hell of a lot of stuff and have some great people around you.
So when it comes to protecting my kids from unwanted Porn sites, I'm pleased that Steve Jobs has the balls to stand up and say, look this is what we believe in, we are not telling you what to watch, but if you want Porn, fine there are other places that you can get it, go!
It may not be YOU he is stopping. But all the other younger, less scrupulous, and people with ulterior motives. It's these people he is preventing from seeing stuff that maybe they are not ready to see, or whatever. I am not a prude, but there is so much unintelligent crap out there at the moment, the less opportunities that my children and/or their friends have of accessing it the better.
Crystal-lite said on Tue, 20 Apr 2010
I'm pleased that Steve Jobs is sticking to his guns regarding this issue.
10* to him.
The only problem about overs 18s choosing what they want to download, that it's easy for children under 10 to download also as many of them did.
miranda00 said on Tue, 20 Apr 2010
For everyone who says it's "all about the children" who can pick up porn on Dad's phone: well, what about violent games? The same thing could be said about violent games.
But there is a rating system so kids can't get to them. And if Dad leaves his phone around, the kid can still download violent games.
But that's OK?
Hypocrites.
Robert Bromfield said on Tue, 20 Apr 2010
It takes a man to stand up for his principals more power to his elbow, its about time other firms put morality before profit. theses people trading in porn are scumbags
b10lao said on Tue, 20 Apr 2010
Apple doesn't want porn in their app store for the same reason WHSmith doesn't stock top shelf mags in their stores. I haven't seen placards outside WHSmith last time I checked. Why should it be different for Apple?
b10lao said on Tue, 20 Apr 2010
Apple doesn't want porn in their app store for the same reason WHSmith doesn't stock top shelf mags in their stores. I haven't seen placards outside WHSmith last time I checked. Why should it be different for Apple?
NeilFiertel said on Tue, 20 Apr 2010
I recall being on a bus in Roma and there were more than a few younger folks looking at or "reading" graphic novels or comics and they were vulgar porn/sadism loaded things. I was somewhat astounded that people would want it in the first place but that they would inflict it on others and that included several nuns on board. About the last thing Apple needs are iphones with porn or worse, iPads. I have no value judgments regarding porn per se other than to say, to each his or her own but having it inflicted on others as well as kids..well, no. Apple has an image to maintain. One can still load up the old iPhone with all the garbage one wants from other sources. That does not mean that the AppleStore needs to provide it.
Xhris2210 said on Wed, 21 Apr 2010
It is not cool to bar content - at best it's prissy, at worst it's fascistic. Do not censor the majority because you don't have the bottle to control - or heaven forfend! - explain serious issues to children.
Those too young to understand porn also have no interest in it beyond novelty, which is indeed passing. My personal opinion is that any level of normal consensual sex is far less damaging to children than a casual attitude to violence. That's what it really means to take on the responsibility of being an adult.
Xhris2210 said on Wed, 21 Apr 2010
I have NO interest in porn - but this is NOT a store, it's essentially a portal on the world.
I find the prissy midwestern sensibility hilarious except where it is in the hands of the powerful - those who are able to influence the options that the general public has.
There are controls that prevent children from downloading porn if that's what you want. Someone made an excellent point about the appalling violent content that's readily available in games. But censorship is not there to protect children - it's there for adults to abrogate their responsibilities and shield them from embarrassment.
iGav said on Wed, 21 Apr 2010
Whilst I can see why people might think it's small minded of Apple to restrict porn apps from the store, spare a thought for the poor people who have to approve the apps for sale - as an employer, Apple has a duty of care to its employees and its probably best that they aren't subjected to torrents of filth
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