Where is Apple going to draw the line?

A guilty pleasure of mine is the website "Hunk du Jour". A website that posts sexy photos of men, but never goes beyond PG-13 images and has nothing overtly sexual or even gay about it. I check out the site, look at it on Facebook and on my iPhone. Well at least I used to look at it on my iPhone. Apparently Apple decided that shirtless men are no longer appropriate for the iTunes store and told the developers of Hunk du Jour that due to complaints, it has been taken down from the store.

I'm sorry, I love my iPhone, but Apple's fear of adult and now this even more paranoid removal of apps that are even the slightest bit above a G rated photo are starting to worry me. If the Droid market doesn't have all these restrictions and rules, I see more and more adults gradually making the move over and Apple will wonder where a growing portion of their user base has went.

Here is the article from their website. And by the way, I don't work for them, I have nothing to do with them, I am just a fan of theirs and I am disgusted that Apple said they can no longer be part of the App Store because of the "complaints" they've received.

http://www.hunkdujour.com/blog/archi..._app_store.asp

What are your thoughts?

I wrote Apple to complain.

Their job is not censorship.

I figure that IF they removed product and Apps due to "complaints", that I had the obligation to "complain".

I'm not much of a "complainer", but I did learn long ago to hold a mirror up to people and their actions.

Apple is sure playing an interesting game here.

http://www.tipb.com/2010/02/23/nyt-a...ntent=FaceBook

They basically said that if your content was already available in a well-known format that is readily available elsewhere, then Apple is OK with you. But if you are a small independent operator, then that same type of content is not acceptable. It's clear Apple doesn't want to lose the big money maker names like Playboy, Sports Illustrated, etc, but Joe Schmo is no big loss if his app is removed.

It's the start of a slippery slope here....

There are probably games available where you can blow up things and kill people, but nudity is not allowed??? Why are people so puritanical when it comes to sexuality?

The Mobile Broker had a suggestion yesterday that perhaps Apple wants to move porn off of the iPhone, and onto the iPad.

http://www.themobilebroker.com/read_press.php?id=148