Apple

So You Heard About the SAGA/Apple/ComiXology Flap, and You Want to Know More About Digital Gatekeepers?

By |2019-03-07T23:33:37-05:00April 11th, 2013|Blog|

We can help with that! NCAC is concerned with censorship in all its forms, even those instances where private enterprises are within their legal rights to marginalize or ban content based on a point of view. Users engage with the Internet as a democratizing public square but, in reality, most of the online channels we rely on are controlled by [...]

No no, a cartoon, naked man in it, no, Apple won’t have it

By |2020-01-03T13:38:04-05:00June 11th, 2010|Blog|

Take a look at this panel from an iPad graphic novel app based on James Joyce’s 20th century classic, Ulysses. There is a part in the story where a character, Buck Mulligan, strips down and jumps in the Irish Sea for a swim. Here it is in Joyce's original: He nodded to himself as he drew off his trousers and [...]

Bikini apps for iPhone are “overtly sexual”

By |2020-01-03T13:37:11-05:00February 24th, 2010|Blog|

We can now add swimwear catalogs to the list of controversial iPhone apps, which already includes a Kama Sutra ebook, NIN, and the dictionary. In an effort to keep out anything "overtly sexual" from iPhone apps, Apple removed Simply Beach's catalog (Simply Beach is an online beachwear retailer). Apparently, women in bikinis press Apple's red-alert sexuality button (or [...]

Apple censors the dictionary

By |2019-03-07T23:00:52-05:00August 5th, 2009|Blog|

Once again, a software company reveals its power over our access to information by making a dumb decision.   This time, Apple rejected a dictionary application, Ninjawords, because it included words Apple deemed inappropriate. According to an interview by John Gruber with Ninjawords developer Phil Crosby, Apple refused to upload Ninjawords to the iTunes store until a number of “objectionable” [...]

Why should U.S. computer manufacturers care about censorship in China?

By |2020-01-03T13:28:44-05:00June 11th, 2009|Blog|

Beijing recently gave computer manufacturers six weeks’ notice that all new PCs sold in China must have Green Dam software installed on their hard drives.  The name for the government-developed filtering program comes from references to a regulated Internet as “green.” Many people inside and outside China are saying that “green” doesn’t translate into pornography-free and safe for children, as [...]

How to get rich quick with the iPhone. Maybe.

By |2020-01-03T13:28:11-05:00May 22nd, 2009|Blog|

The process for developing iPhone applications is simple: you need a catchy idea, a smart programmer (or two, or more) and lots of time. Easy. Once you’re done, you can then submit your application to the Apple store for review. Once accepted, you set a price and start sharing profits with Apple for every app downloaded. And then, [...]

Teen sex! No fun with iPhone! Holocaust denying! Cyber bullying!

By |2020-01-03T13:27:59-05:00May 12th, 2009|Blog|

It's five, and my Firefox windows is a few tabs away from crashing. Let's go through 'em, shall we? Bristol Palin is now a celebrity spokesperson for the teen pregnancy prevention run by the Candies Foundation. You may have heard of Candies, a tween/teen clothing store which markets the "floral lace thong" for 7-16 year olds. I'd add a link [...]

What it means: Nine Inch Nails and the iPhone application*: Annotated edition (*4+)

By |2020-01-03T13:26:54-05:00May 8th, 2009|Blog|

I should have put money on it – or at least Twittered – my Monday prediction that Apple would re-allow the new Nine Inch Nails application into the iPhone Store. The Apple store pulled the application because the application – which had NIN albums – included the controversial album, The Downward Spiral.* Trent Reznor, who’s very internet savvy, first sent [...]

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