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Apple Boots Porn Apps After Business Insider Exposé

by Matthew Zuras on February 19, 2010 at 02:54 PM

Apple is apparently embarking on a puritanical program against the porn that has somehow made it into the App Store. Business Insider did a roundup of racy apps just two days ago, and Apple is doing quick damage control by immediately booting 'Wobble iBoobs' and the like.

While Apple expressly denies any apps containing actual nudity, the App Store has seen plenty of thong-laden strip-shows, including the controversial 'Puff!' app, which lets you blow into your phone to lift a Japanese girl's skirt.

We're torn. We want to say these apps are mostly harmless when compared to the bevy of outrageous acts available to the iPhone user who simply searches the Internet with Safari. Are soft-core slideshows or strip poker games really debasing our morals and endangering society, or are they just trashy substitutes for decent porn and, dare we say, the real thing? (Or are they dangerous? We did report recently on a trucker who caused a fatal crash while watching smut, albeit on a laptop.)

It's more likely that Apple is trying to maintain a brand image that ignores the seamier side of the Web, despite the fact that nudity and sex scenes appear in many movies featured in the iTunes Store. And, while it doesn't exactly come down to a matter of free speech since Apple has the right to distribute whatever kind of content it wants, this does raise a serious question. With this iron fist, what's to keep Apple from monopolizing the media it allows on its mobile devices? With the iPad, for example, there's no reason that Apple couldn't forbid Microsoft Office, exclusively offering iWork applications with no alternative. Choices would become limited as Apple protected its brand and profit margin.

Still, simply out of a concern for good taste, we're not too sad that 'Wobble iBoobs' has disappeared. Does that even sound sexy? C'mon, you pervy developers -- you could've thought of a better name. [From: Business Insider]

Tags: apple, AppStore, BusinessInsider, ipad, iphone, ipod, porn

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