Creators of rejected App Store comic book appeal for rating system

By Jacqueline Emigh | Published August 29, 2008, 6:22 PM

After its 'Murderdrome' comic book was rejected by Apple's iPhone App Store, Infurious Comics this week appealed to Web site visitors support its request to Apple for a rating system similar to one already used on iTunes.

The App Store turned down the comic book earlier this week, claiming that it violated a section of an SDK agreement which states: "Applications must not contain any obscene, pornographic, offensive or defamatory content or materials of any kind (text, graphics, images, photographs, etc.) or other content or materials that in Apple's reasonable judgment may be found objectionable by iPhone or iPod touch users."

On the Infurious Web site, however, comic strip co-creator Paul Jason Holden has been suggesting inconsistency between the App Store and iTunes, arguing that iTunes currently allows user downloads of R-rated films that included South Park, Reservoir Dogs, and Two Smoking Barrels, for example.

"Here at Infurious, we would love to work with Apple to ensure a content rating system can be put in place to allow material that is no more offensive than many of the R-rated films available to download on iTunes," Holden wrote on his company's blog Monday. "Please leave a comment committing your support to us -- we'll forward all of these to Apple, so that we can ensure that not only Murderdrome, but that any comic submitted to Apple doesn't fall foul of the same censorship."

When BetaNews visited the site early Friday evening, Infurious had received more than 130 user comments on its site, mostly supporting its cause.

Though the Infurious Web site continues to run early episodes, the Murderdrome project has been placed on temporary hold, according to Holden. Instead, it's now focusing on other titles "which will be more Apple friendly," he said, in a Q&A with TechRadar UK, also cited by Infurious. "Longer term, I'm hoping Apple will see the very public need for some sort of ratings system and we can bring Murderdrome to everyone who's clamoring for it!"

Comments

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Again...if you don't like Apple's restrictive attitude then don't support it. Buying the products and authoring for their platforms does not persuade Apple to change. Profit is what motivates the company.

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this is why I jailbroke my ipod touch... my machine I want to use it my way.. I want to put on my choice of content - not apple's!

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Aww here we go with all the hippie nerds crying over comics on their phones. How Stupid!!

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Read the article. It's not able comics, it's about "R-Rated content".

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Smells like censorship to me. Oh and double standards.

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UGH. Censorship is a govt process of stopping someone from their right to free speech or religion they wish to practice. Not some publically traded company imposing certain standards on the content they provide to their customer.

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Censorship is the suppression of speech or deletion of communicative material which may be considered objectionable, harmful or sensitive, as determined by a censor.

Corporate censorship is the process by which editors in corporate media outlets intervene to halt the publishing of information that portrays their business or business partners in a negative light. Privately owned corporations in the business of reporting the news also sometimes refuse to distribute information due to the potential loss of advertiser revenue or shareholder value which adverse publicity may bring.

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You question King Steve????

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