Nudity, e-books and censorship: How Apple became Big Brother | Hacker News Reader

Nudity, e-books and censorship: How Apple became Big Brother

theglobeandmail.com

6 pointsrmk210 comments

Apple is not censoring anything, they are only regulating what can be sold in their store. They do not have a monopoly/single-handed-control on eBook distribution, let alone publishing in general. Your local Barnes & Noble probably does not carry hardcore porn, but it would be crazy to call B&N's policy being some form of malicious censorship.

Given that they have unilateral control as to what can be installed on non-jailbroken devices, that's rather a cop-out. Apple does have a complete monopoly on content that can be purchased for use with iOS devices. If you don't like B&N's policies, you can very often find another retailer with better policies, but this is not at all the case if you are looking for software compatible with iOS.

So? Accusing Apple having a monopoly on iOS contents regulation is like complaining Honda having a monopoly on Civic's engine parts (Yes, there are after-market parts, and yes, those WILL void any factory warranty). They make their own devices and they can decide however they want to regular its hardware/software/ecosystem, but they don't have a monopoly on mobile electronics so you are free to choose any alternatives. Calling a company having a monopoly over their own product is simply silly.

Competition is the answer. If Apple isn't interested in your particular content, put it on Android.

The article is a great example of why developers should be cautious of the iPhone: The developer invests substantial resources up-front, and it's a crapshoot whether your app gets accepted or stays accepted.

"Who appointed Apple the globe’s moral arbiter?"

We did.

I'm sure you mean this in the vein of "Apple is controlling the App Store so they're evil" but in reality you should be thinking "Apple is controlling the App Store because if they didn't they would be sued over and over again by posting adult-themed apps because the US is a) puritan and b) lawsuit crazy".

No, Apple can do what they want. We make them the censor to the extant that we rely on them for distribution.

As for lawsuits, I doubt that B&N would be sued if they offered this book in hardcover, coffee table format. Which is probably a better format for something like this anyway.

I'm sorry, I don't buy the "you (society) made your bed, now sleep in it" justification. Apple grew to dominance in several spaces prior to entering book distribution. That same logic applied anywhere else (politics, war, relationships) is just stupid, why is it fair here?

Blocking a history book because it contains a few dozen photos of nude adults should not be excused because US tweens wanted to store more music.

And how is this any different from your average book or video store ?

Because you can purchase other books and content from other places. This would be more like your DVD player not allowing you to play any content rated above R, and blacking out breasts in any context, even documentaries. And not telling you it did this when you bought it.

This isn't about Apple blocking hardcore or even softcore apps (as is mentioned, they allow Playboy). It's about them blocking history books from publication based on an extremely narrow definition of adult content.

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