Apple released guidelines for determining what programs can be sold on its App Store, online after more than two years of complaints from developers that the company’s policy was secret and capricious.
The guidelines go a long way towards addressing many of the complaints, here however, there are still a number of grey areas.
Apple is clearly, and thankfully, reaffirming its stance on adult materials. While many argue that content is a personal choice, there is not a current solution in the market to allow parents to make the decision regarding what their children seen. For those that are out there Apple points out, “We have lots of kids downloading lots of apps, and parental controls don’t work unless the parents set them up (many don’t). So know that we’re keeping an eye out for the kids.â€
It’s unclear what the company’s long term plans are, but they have taken a strong statement with the new guidelines about the current line on the App Store.“Apps containing pornographic material, deï¬ned by Webster’s Dictionary as ‘explicit descriptionsor displays of sexual organs or activities intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings’, will be rejected.â€
Note that Apple does draw the distinction between general freedom of speech and the App Store in the guidelines. The guidelines say “We view Apps different than books or songs, which we do not curate. If you want to criticize a religion, write a book. If you want to describe sex, write a book or a song, or create a medical app.”
While everyone might not agree with Apple’s guidelines, it is good to see a company willing to step from behind the curtain and outside of legalise to give us their clear (and sometime humorous) opinions.
- “We have over 250,000 apps in the App Store. We don’t need any more Fart apps. If your app doesn’t do something useful or provide some form of lasting entertainment, it may not be accepted.â€
- “We will reject Apps for any content or behavior that we believe is over the line. What line, you ask? Well, as a Supreme Court Justice once said, “I’ll know it when I see itâ€. And we think that you will also know it when you cross it.â€
- “If your app is rejected, we have a Review Board that you can appeal to. If you run to the press and trash us, it never helps.â€
If you’ve been reading technology publications over the past few weeks, viagra approved
you have at least heard about Oracle suing Google for patent infringement related to the Android operating system. Some reports claim that there may have even been direct copying from Java.
We would like to draw your attention to the article How Oracle might kill Google’s Android and software patents all at once by Daniel Eran Dilger of the blog RoughlyDrafted Magazine. The article is a little long and covers a lot of areas, but he raises some interesting parts in the discussion. If you’re not overly familiar with the background of the story, this article will give you a better basis.
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center celebrated its 50th birthday in Huntsville, sickness
with a small ceremony last week.
President Dwight Eisenhower first dedicated Marshall on September 8th 1960. Marshall has contributed or lead almost every American space milestone from the early Gemini rockets to the solid rocket boosters that have lifted the space shuttle for decades. Today, more than 7,500 people work for Marshall and its related contractors in Huntsville.