November 10, 2009

A Mad Magazine artist draws 540 caricatures for an iPhone app with info about the members of Congress.

Like this:


And Apple rejects it, saying:
Thank you for submitting Bobble Rep – 111th Congress Edition to the App Store. We’ve reviewed Bobble Rep – 111th Congress Edition and determined that we cannot post this version of your iPhone application to the App Store because it contains content that ridicules public figures and is in violation of Section  3.3.14 from the iPhone Developer Program License Agreement which states:

“Applications may be rejected if they contain content or materials of any kind (text, graphics, images, photographs, sounds, etc.) that in Apple’s reasonable judgement may be found objectionable, for example, materials that may be considered obscene, pornographic, or defamatory.”...
Ridicules public figures?! What is wrong with Apple? The artist, Tom Richmond, says:
This is truly ridiculous. These caricatures aren’t mean or very exaggerated. They are simple, fun cartoon likenesses of the politicians and the purpose of the app is a informational database. There is no editorial commentary involved at all.

This is the very reason that Apple as a company should be taken to task over its ludicrous and inconsistent app approval policies. Clearly this app does not “ridicule public figures” and is violating nothing, but Apple has decided the world must be protected from the insidious subversiveness this would force upon the public and the brutal, heinous ridicule that my cruel, cruel caricatures would subject these politicians to.
Well, I would have defended him even if the caricatures were cruel, so this is simply absurd.

On the up side, I'm sure Apple will reverse on this one, and Richmond is getting some great publicity, including this little contribution of mine, which I am happy to give.

(Link via Don Reisinger.)

29 comments:

Wince said...

I'm sure Microsoft would like to invoke that same standard with respect to what it views as Apple's caricature advertising of "Mac" versus "Windows."

AST said...

Oh, goodie. I get to be the first to post it:

I guess there isn't an app for that.


wv: motles - Ah, the British invasion!

Sofa King said...

Google and its butt-buddy Apple are pretty cozy with the current crop of public figures in government, so I'm not too surprised.

Jason (the commenter) said...

Apple is "the man" now. I can't wait for my contract with AT&T to be up so I can go Android.

chickelit said...

I thought Apple were lefties, and not down with all that censorship stuff?

Jason (the commenter) said...

chickenlittle: I thought Apple were lefties, and not down with all that censorship stuff?

Don't you remember that old Apple ad? It's been widely misinterpreted. It was supposed to show a world, as envisioned by Apple, being attacked by one of the few remaining dissidents.

Tibore said...

"chickenlittle said...
I thought Apple were lefties, and not down with all that censorship stuff?"


Pfff... maybe once upon a time, but for years now, it's been even more tightly shut than Windows. At least on a PC, only the software is closed source.

Unknown said...

Ann said...

"Well, I would have defended him even if the caricatures were cruel, so this is simply absurd."

If the caricatures were "cruel" (like showing most of these slugs for the scheming hypocrites they are), they would need no defense.

Alex said...

More evidence that Apple "does evil". Not surprised considering Al Gore is on their board of directors.

blake said...

Apple has always been pretty closed, except back in the "plastic baggie days" of the Apple ][.

wv: press

(As in "press any key"...but I can't find the "any" key!)

Roux said...

I support telecommunications for my company and I can't stand Apple or at&t. at&t has made a deal with the devil in it's alliance with Apple.

Beth said...

If there's any one external element (say, outside of my family's dynamics) to be credited for why I tend against political correctness, and can't help but poke fun at all and sundry politicians, that would be Mad Magazine. My childhood would have been much less subversive without it.

My brother, from whom I stole his copies of Mad, looked like Alfred E. Newman as a kid. I adored him. Both of him.

Apple better get its mind right!

Beth said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Michael Ryan said...

So, will this application be available on the Droid next week?

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Is Apple big now? Like Walmart?

They dont make any sense.

Glenn Howes said...

There is no guarantee that publicity will cause Apple to reverse themselves. They may, they may not. In most cases, when you get an app rejected--I've had an app rejected, but not for this reason--the developer will make whatever mods they think will make the reviewer happy and resubmit. But in this case, the reviewer basically rejected the entire concept of the app, or at least the part that added value, giving the developer little appeal but to the court of public opinion.

l do not care for this particular rule. I wish Apple were rejecting more apps based on quality reasons; I'm pretty sure nothing of value would be lost if the bottom 50,000 apps (in quality) were eliminated from the 100,000 apps in the App store. However, that would require either getting and relying on reviewers known for their taste or relying on an easily manipulated and misleading star rating system. And it would eliminate the big bludgeon they have of having far and away the largest app catalog.

vbspurs said...

I thought Apple were lefties, and not down with all that censorship stuff?

Pfff. Since I buy apps constantly, having to read up on them before shelling out my moolah, I follow all the censorship battles they've had with app developers.

Apple also rejected a Baby Shaker app, which allowed the owner to shake to death an imaginary baby.

It also rejected "Me So Holy", an app where you put a photo of any person you want, surrounded by a saintly halo. What the freak, that's hilarious. I'd buy it in a second.

But Apple rejected it just the same.

Lefties love censorship, especially when it allows them to show their "sensitive" side.

Cheers,
Victoria

vbspurs said...

BTW, MM made John McCain look like the late Dominick Dunne without the glasses.

David H Dennis said...

I have an app called Oama IQ. I had to tone it down quite a bit in order for it to be accepted.

Here was one of the questions I strongly suspect they didn't like:

Who is the least important element in education reform plans, including those presented by Bill Ayers and Barack Obama?
- Teachers
- Administrators
- Janitors
- Students

The correct answer, of course, is the last one.

There were plenty of innocuous questions and answers too, but the app was only accepted after the election had safely passed.

D

submandave said...

At the risk of projecting, it seems that the Apple way provides a perfect microcosm of leftist thought. Everything is tightly controlled, so you don't hurt yourself or damage your data/computer. You just worry about having fun and being cool, we'll take care of the important stuff. It provides them the satisfaction of the illusion of freedom without having to worry about the ugly details.

Nuclear war won't destroy America; It will be the bread and circuses.

Noah Boddie said...

People (like Steve Jobs) who deserve the most mockery always detect it when it isn't even there.

Narcissists with persecution complexes are thin-skinned and paranoid.

Of course, Steve Jobs did contribute something great to the world. He rode on the shoulders of giants like Woz and thousands of engineers and other geniuses to get there. But he certainly was the savior of Apple. Unlike Obama and the Congress, who have brought nothing but misery to this nation.

He's still a massive prick who has to reinvent the screw every time a new model of Mac comes out.

tim maguire said...

I love the way they try to make it sound like some law is being broken,

is in violation of Section 3.3.14

When what we're really talking about is Apple policy. And the policy that is violated?

Applications may be rejected if they contain content or materials of any kind...that in Apple’s reasonable judgement may be found objectionable

Basically, this app violates the policy that says Apple can deny any app for any reason. The truth is, the app doesn't violate a section; rather Apple decided to invoke a section.

Unfortunately, "because we want to" doesn't have the same ring to it as "you broke the rules." And so they lie.

jeff said...

Never been a big fan of Apple or Jobs, HOWEVER....I bought some stock near the bottom of the last downturn and so far it has more than doubled, so Hey! Let's let forget about what Apple's politics may or may not be! Get that I-phone today! Got some AT&T which is just breaking even, so sign up for that 2 year contract!

chickelit said...

Lefties love censorship, especially when it allows them to show their "sensitive" side.

Aw, I knew that Victoria, I was just stirring the pot. :)


wv: beria Now that's creepy! paging the NKVD

SH said...

The picture of McCain doesn't even look bad... I know it's probably a bobble head too but... bfd. People buy bobble heads of people they LIKE so they're not considered by normal people to be offensive.

When I read mad mag artist I was thinking it would be really bad... When I was a kid they could be kinda gross.

Jamie said...

submandave, that's brilliant.

Paul Kirchner said...

Honestly, I wouldn't have guessed that was John McCain unless the category had been narrowed down to Republican senators. As caricatures go, it's a vague approximation. Imagining similar drawings of politicians I've never even heard of, much less seen on TV, seems pretty pointless. Probably more useful to have an actual photo.

Noah Boddie said...

POTRZEBIE!!!!! POTRZEBIE!!!!! POTRZEBIE!!!!! POTRZEBIE!!!!! POTRZEBIE!!!!! POTRZEBIE!!!!! POTRZEBIE!!!!! POTRZEBIE!!!!! POTRZEBIE!!!!! POTRZEBIE!!!!! POTRZEBIE!!!!! POTRZEBIE!!!!!POTRZEBIE!!!!! POTRZEBIE!!!!!POTRZEBIE!!!!! POTRZEBIE!!!!!

How's your mom, Ed?

Methadras said...

submandave said...

At the risk of projecting, it seems that the Apple way provides a perfect microcosm of leftist thought. Everything is tightly controlled, so you don't hurt yourself or damage your data/computer. You just worry about having fun and being cool, we'll take care of the important stuff. It provides them the satisfaction of the illusion of freedom without having to worry about the ugly details.

Nuclear war won't destroy America; It will be the bread and circuses.


Oh, you don't have to worry about projecting anything. As an original stockholder of Apple stock, I can tell you without reservation that Apple is, without reservation a ideologically leftist organization. Apple has time and time again demonstrated their leftism in how they deal with the public who uses their products or how they want to shape perception of how their products are to be perceived to other potential leftist consumers.