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On iPhone, Searching For Kama Sutra = Porn
heychris writes "Eucalyptus, an ebook app for iPhone, has been rejected from the App Store for 'objectionable content.' What's so objectionable? The Kama Sutra, available from Project Gutenberg, which is available on other ebook readers as well. Not only that, but the screenshot shows that you would have to search for Kama Sutra to get it; it's not built in to Eucalyptus. The author is reasonable but frustrated, while Herr Gruber is more succinct." I wonder how good the now-cheap Nokia 810 is as an e-book reader.
Now excuse me, I'm going to read some find articles in the Playboy.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power lost.
is the answer
They should pull a Trent Reznor and re-submit the app. It sounds like approval is very subjective based on the reviewer. Chances are it might get approved the second time around.
Hosting and Domain name coupons
...with Eucalyptus and the shaking baby app. iPhone = iFun.
If you are so opposed to Apple's censorship, STOP BUYING AND HYPING THEIR PRODUCTS.
Until techy geeks stop hyping everything Apple does as the "next big thing" and start paying attention to the shady shit that Apple pulls every day, the situation will never get better.
I watched the animations on the site, and nowhere did I see the mention of the Kama Sutra. Then again if you can find the Kama Sutra in a search, how is this any different from Google or Safari?
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
I happen to own a nokia n810, and I believe that it's ebook reading ability, particularly pdf, is excellent. It is probably my primary use for the device.
My N770 isn't just dirt cheap, it's a fine ebook reader as it has a higher resolution screen than the iPhone: 640x480 vs 840x480.
It's also a great little remote desktop terminal when I'm around the house. I use it as a winamp remote.
I have an N810 and LOVE IT. I installed Evince which lets me rotate PDFs left or right so I have a full page visible on the 800x480 screen, and it's wonderful to read a book on. The fact that I have a full Gecko based browser and full xterminal everywhere is just icing on the cake.
jX [ Make everything as simple as possible, but no simpler. - Einstein ]
Its been very thoroughly established that Apple's censorship program is based more upon the reviewer you get than any standard set of guidelines. Someone got overzealous and rejected it, that doesn't mean that it is against Apple's policies. Just re-submit the thing and I'd lay even money on it that it will be approved the next time.
A lot of people have the mistaken impression that the Karma Sutra is a sex guide when in reality it is a guide to having and maintaining a strong relationship.
For example it talks about marriage, how to meet women, and other things that you might expect from any modern relationship guide. It has a few sections about sex, kissing, and such but isn't the "sexual positions" guide that people think it is (often mis-referenced as such).
It is no more porn than any modern relationship book (e.g. "Women are from venus men are from mars").
If this is how they judge apps, then I think every way to view pornographic material should be removed. Safari, the actual phone, I'm sure there's some other ingenious ways. It seems apple doesn't want to have people compete with it's own products :P.
... that the reviewer didn't look for 120 Days of Sodom , I guess.
Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
Do not develop for appstore.
ppl love apple, then th same ppl hate it.... apple is quite consistent, it always likes to play catholic school teacher, but th fans r th ones who confuse me....
Original submitter here. It seems the root link to the the author's blog is gone, though it's in the firehose submission:
http://www.blog.montgomerie.net/whither-eucalyptus
He's posting his entire dealings with Apple, mostly of the form letter variety. Hope this app nonsense gets cleared up soon.
CC
There is either more to this story than meets the eye, or Apple really needs to get some better standards to their reviewers.
I can understand if this was rejected because the reader in some way made it significantly easier to find the content. Bear in mind, even through the Kama Sutra is not a work of pornography, it is an adult work and if it was featured in some way, no one would doubt that there should be some consideration given to if it will be allowed on a site without parental controls.
There is probably a spectrum between full-on general web browser and an app that is only the Kama Sutra, with pictures and diagrams. One could argue that if this app laid somewhere between the two in terms of how it is featured, there might be a reason to consider rejecting it. It would be nice, either way, if the reviewers and Apple made that line well-established.
Obviously, parental controls will make this situation go away. So, once that is dealt with, it should just be resubmitted. It only makes me wonder why Apple had not launched that functionality to begin with.
If, for some reason, the book was not rejected due to that work being featured in some way, then the reviewers are a bunch of retards. But you don't need me to tell you that.
This iPhone App advertising scheme isn't fooling me and I'm tired of these Slashdot stories feeding the cycle.
I'll stick with my G1, thanks.
It is difficult to imagine how the text-only English translation of the Kama Sutra could be considered porn by anyone who has not spent the last 20 years in a Skinner box. Today, it is probably best understood as an interesting piece of history, since its contents are neither especially informative or titillating.
Of course, if some of the reviewers at Apple have spent the last 20 years in a Skinner box, that would explain a number of the bogus rejections.
I use my n810 as an eBook reader all the time. The screen works quite well, and FBreader works like a champ (Even has its own Maemo repository). It doesn't have a book repository, but I haven't need one. The n800 should work about the same, and has a slightly larger screen. I just needed the keyboard.
But then again, I've been using eReaders since my original Palm Pro.
... And so it comes to this.
... over the injustice and swear that his Apple fanboy days are over FOREV... oh wait nevermind.
Give a man a fish and you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish, and he'll say "WHERE'S MY FISH, YOU IDIOT?"
It's probably because Apple are coming out with their own reader and don't want the competition.
Once I was a four stone apology. Now I am two separate gorillas.
I've had Stanza (another ebook reader) installed on my iPhone for months. And just last week on a whim I wondered if I could download the Kama Sutra from Gutenberg with it, so I tried. Sure enough, it worked fine.*
So I dunno what the point of this rejection is, since I can already do with my (locked, unbroken, completely unhacked) iPhone the very thing they are trying now to prevent.
[*: Didn't learn anything new, though. :-) ]
With reasonable men I will reason; with humane men I will plead; but to tyrants I will give no quarter. -- William Lloyd
They are supposed to contain knowledge, wisdom, insight, information, ideas and imaginings.
If you don't have access to information that could offend someone (or at least challenge how they look at the world), then you can't have access to anything. In this sense a program that can read books is the most offensive possible program you can make.
However, Steve Jobs' comments about people not reading books anymore aside, I don't want to live in a world without books or one with a reading list approved by some organization or bureaucrat.
I don't need our new government to babysit me -- Apple's more than willing to do it for them.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
And can one do a web search using that browser for pornographic material? And so on that basis wouldn't that qualify that browser as a restricted app?
What the hell is Apple smoking?
Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
From the summary: "I wonder how good the now-cheap Nokia 810 is as an e-book reader."
I have an N800, which is very close in specs. It's okay as an e-book reader, but nothing to write home about. I'm using FBReader.
As a general purpose internet laptop killer, it's awesome, though. Especially if you couple it with a bluetooth keyboard. I've written novels on it, VNCed, SSHed, played some games, diagnose networks, listened to podcasts, and even played Ur-Quan Masters on it.
I barely touch my laptop anymore unless I need something that genuinely calls for a larger screen, like a spreadsheet or balancing my checkbook. The fun stuff, I leave to the N800.
Today's Top Free Application for the iphone is called "What's Your Sex Appeal?" by LOLriffic Stuff.
Exactly.
And, they get sweaty thinking about sex all the time.
Dave Barnes 9 breweries within walking distance of my house
I agree with that. It would be nice to see Apple transformed from Arrogant to Humble and Appreciative.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
http://th.ingsmadeoutofotherthin.gs/eucalyptus/
Just watching the demo video of Eucalyptus's interface makes me want to purchase it. The search methods, content organization, page zooming, and page turning seem very well designed and polished to me. Integration with Project Gutenberg is a fantastic bonus.
Disclaimer: I have no relationship with either Eucalyptus or Project Gutenberg. I'm just a very impressed hopefully-soon-to-be user.
I browse Slashdot at +3, Funny
...your partner is on the phone during sex they might actually be looking up the next position instead of chatting with a friend.
Its possible on the iphone to go to "Adult" sites, and play music that may have swear words in them, etc etc.
Therefore should Apple ban any apps that show pictures, movies, internet, and text.
What about Chat lines, sex calls, phone sex, all undesirable, so therefore they should also ban phone calls.
The worst part of the iPhone is its made by Apple!
Why are people so resistant to simply admitting it's a fashion accessory?
Maybe before we actually discuss the issue, we could get some idea from you of why people seem to think they've shown some kind of deep insight when they say things like this.
Tweet, tweet.
Seriously, why should Apple even have the right to restrict what people do, see, read, or hear on the hardware that they purchased from them? Once money has changed hands their ownership to the metal has ended.
Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.
The real question is not why Apple is treating the Kama Sutra like porn, but why can't we get official, paid in full porn through the main application and content conduit for the iPhone?
Come on Steve, there are adults out there using the iPhone. Give them what they want and be the pimp of your dreams.
I agree with the more "succinct" blog commenter that is linked in the summary; this is a truly execrable move on Apple's part. The point isn't just that the Kama Sutra can be found elsewhere or that it doesn't meet the definition of pornography. I'm sorry, but the Kama Sutra is one of the world's great religious texts, and is a great literary work in its own right. That Apple would put itself on the side of prohibiting access to it on some sort of moral grounds is completely outrageous. Apple should issue a public apology and fire the person who made this decision. Better yet, they should make the app store approval process more content-neutral, but we know that's not going to happen.
I'm guessing apple has a sweatshop somewhere in Asia stocked with marginal english speakers evaluating apps.
Well it's probably not a sweatshop in India, since they'd likely have recognized the Kama Sutra...
Slashdot: news for wanking, stuff that spatters!
Reminds me of this.
-AC
I have not bought any apps for my phone yet. I promise this will be the first one. That demo was great.
sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.
I'm OK with Apple doing idiotic stuff like this. History has shown that, in the long run, the "walled garden" approach does not have a lot of longevity. Apple should know this better than anyone, seeing as they've tried it repeatedly. In the end cheap and open always wins.
I'm willing to bet that once Android phones are really available, you're going to see the smartest developers moving over. Not because Android is technically superior-- it may not be-- but because no one wants to PAY for a SDK and pour loads of time into developing and refining applications, only to have it blocked by Apple for some arbitrary or unknown reason. Couple that with Apple's long history of incorporating good ideas into their own platform at the expense of developers, and I think their App Store will eventually marginalize itself.
Right now, the iPhone is really the only slick thing out there (I speak as a Blackberry user and administrator, which is a platform that works but not well), but how long do you think this will be the case?
"je ne sais quoi"
Apple's nuts on this. I went to Apple's Bug Reporter to complain about this. You may have to be a registered developer to do this. If so and you are one, please burn some Apple karma and let them know that their approval process is nuts.
Because there's nothing stopping me from browsing gobs of porn with a web browser...
Apple hasnt made anything i would would give a damn about.
And ever since my experiences with Nokias Softwaremarket i havent even made any mobile apps.
Might as well burn some karma for truth.
You know how we are starting to look like those moronic cultures that burned books?
Copyright infringement is "piracy" in the same way DRM is "consumer rape"
I agree with that. It would be nice to see Apple transformed from Arrogant to Humble and Appreciative.
So, exactly how are you going to get Apple to replace Steve Jobs with Steve Wozniak?
My blog
I think it has more to do with taking money away from Kindle. A lot of the same books cost $$$ from Amazon.
I don't know why anyone even touches an iPhone. I will not tolerate my Apps being limited.
Notice all the classics selling for $0.99.
Classics which would be free to view using Eucalyptus.
What effect would this have on apps store revenue?
Is that a Ted Kennedy joke?
Most cell phones make decent ebook readers.
A couple of clicks at http://www.booksinmyphone.com/ or it's mobile site and you can get some book apps running in just about any phone.
The main stumbling blocks are that it's only really 'click to install' if you have internet access and the carriers have not crippled your phone to try to extract more $ from you. Those aside I had a fine reading experience on my four year old phone.
Oh Christ, doing your GF while she talks to her best friend on the phone? Is this the new sex intensifier?
Now I feel really old.
No wonder there are 5 billion cellphones in the world.
It's not sex that does it for Jobs, but utterly unbridled, beyond extreme, control freakism.
If he weren't a billionaire, Stevie baby would be locked up in a mental institution and the key thrown away.
I wish I had mod points for you.
Analysing it rationally though, people who know about Apple's evil bits will touch the iPhone for two reasons:
(i) Physically, it's a very nice gadget. Not perfect, but good enough to get attached to. It's slightly ahead of Android G1 on sheer sex --- it's a bit better physically (unless you want a physical keyboard), but it's neck and neck on the UI. Multitouch is uber-sexy^99, but the Android phone integration is actually a lot more useful. iPhone wins on a few points of sexiness.
(ii) The RDF. Although we joke about it, the RDF is real: it permeates our entire techie culture, even that of the Apple detractors. Our perfectly sane friends who buy an iPhone start drooling incoherently, and despite being bright enough to know and accept that their judgement has gone AWOL (as they freely admit), nevertheless will chant Apple mantras every couple of hours. And they know what's happening and laugh at themselves, but they still continue doing it. The RDF is *extremely* powerful, way way way way beyond normal marketting. Some of my friends are ludicrously bright, so this is no joke --- they see it happening to themselves with eyes wide open, and yet they still let it proceed, and joke about it. (One says she's letting it happen as an experiment, and I believe her ... her PhD says something.)
So there are at least two undeniable reasons to touch the iPhone, even if you know that it's not all roses ahead and that Apple is teh suk. Whether or not the Apps Store problem will affect this balance I don't know. I suspect not --- the strength of the RDF is just completely beyond anything that's come before.
Do we really need "XXX got rejected from App Store" news every day?
It's only showing it's colors.
Apple's always been *evil*. They've just become very good at creating the 'must-have' style products that are overpriced, locking you into Apple ... at every chance. Easily shutting down anything remotely resembling 'freedom' -- which is what made the PC great in the first place. People have complained about MS's adoption of more and more DRM, but Apple's always had a de facto locking -- by having exclusive locks on compatible hardware. MS went with the approach of allowing unrestricted interoperability (which, when they've tried to limit, they've gotten slapped down due to their monopoly position, but Apple is similarly a monopoly in their market. But MS on PC's and Apples on Apples, are both monopolies. Apple gets away with it because they are smaller -- but their policies and user-abuse are far harsher and more totalitarian than MS. Much of that stems from Apple's core culture, but some of it also stems from MS being forced to be more open because they are a standard -- which they became because of their openness.
It disgusts me the way Apple fanboys fawn all everything Apple, which fancying themselves superior to PC-users. Bu it's nothing more than it ever was -- financial and "in-crowd" elitism.
You see it in Apple's commercials...the I'm a Mac, vs. PC. The PC guy looks like the average harried Joe -- while the Apple guy is just portrayed as 'cool'...with all his little 16-17 y/o rail-thin model pod-girls dancing around him in silhouette, like an oh-so-more-sophisticated 'Deadhead' scene of rainbow colors, but with the original 'cool' of Beatles style and music 60's-70 -- the epitome of cool in the baby-boom generation, with it's message perpetuating the message of perpetual cool youth with their stylish Apple products. The iPhone, by it's price should be focused on adults and business types, but it's obviously focused on sales to teens and 20'-something as the latest trend of electronic fashion -- just like the ipods were yesterday's (and ongoing) fashion statement.
But people should be concerned about how much market lock-in Apple has -- they own the main means of distribution for their gadgets -- and get to decide how their devices are used -- and they have shown that they have no qualms about shutting down anyone who tries to use their product in an unapproved manner -- or even performing the crudest of Christian censorship campaigns against 'objectionable' classics that have been previously censored or caused controversy. What will be next on their banned list, the unexpurgated poems of Walt Whitman, or the 'Song of Songs': an erotic piece that has been subject to demands of censorship over the centuries as it describes intense expressions of physical love, the voluptuous beauty of lovers longing for one another and in a uniquely feminine perspective, it's seductive and intimate language conveys and immediate, sensuous and intoxicating desire. Certainly worthy of censorship -- or how about the recent decision in Bloomington, Ind where the city is refusing to run a paid-bus, public-service ad, "You can be good without God", as being too controversial (that's their definition of objectionable).
That Apple is using it's censorship powers on type of apps and content is very disturbing given it's unique, monopoly lock in the markets it sells too -- yet the fan boys swoon on, like Apple can do no wrong. They were they original PC-company that moved to sue all their competitors out of business. The original company that "sued over their "Intellectual Property" -- they've been guilty of copyright, patent, trademark and DRM abuse since their creation and have no qualms using lawsuits and their market-lock on their products, to control what you can with "your" product (it's really their product -- they can brick-it anytime they don't like a change you've implemented). If you are lucky, they'll replace it
Just allow the app and apologise. No need to fire anybody over it, the person who made this mistake might be an excellent employee. People make mistakes. Thinking that the Kama Sutra is porn isn't even an uncommon one.
It's really strange.
Murder? Passes
Massacre? Passes
Giant weapons? Passes
Religious indoctrination? Passes
And:
Eating? Passes
Sleeping? Passes
Drinking? Passes
Breathing? Passes
Communicating? Passes
Sex? NO, we can't have that?
What's WRONG with these people?
Too much religious indoctrination?
I once read that the point was, to make the most important need(s) a sin, and then tell them that the punishment is something horrible, so that everybody feels guilty, and everybody becomes controllable trough your own idiotic rules.
Of course, your slaves still have to reproduce. And that's why there is the missionary position.
Funny how there are religions, where they do the same shit with eating. Like disallowing everything except mixed pickles and raw cereals.
If only people would realize that this is a disease. I mean those people who do not make money off of it.
I, for one, wonder, if I should start making money off of it too. I mean, there will always be enough retards...
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
If you use any type of analytics software in your iPhone application you can see exactly when and where Apple is testing your app from. Mine is tested from Sunnyvale California on an iPod touch and iPhone.
It's because his app doesn't respect parental control settings.
Still kinda stupid.
Stanza (http://www.lexcycle.com) is a great ebook reader on the iPhone. It's free, it's got wireless syncing, built-in ebook purchasing capability, access to multiple libraries (including feedbooks and project gutenberg) from within the app, adjustable font size, color, etc., support for hypertext...
Seriously, guys, if you want an ebook reader on the iPhone, Stanza is the way to go.
Serious question, I don't know. Since its Apple, and they like to hobble users I am suspecting that it may be they have locked the phone so the only way to get apps is though this store?
Or is it possible to just download it from the authors website and put it on your phone?
If it has to be through the Apple censorship filter that would be a reason for me NEVER to get one of these things.
If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
You can get apps from a third party only if you jailbreak it.
Meaning hack it? Does it require opening it?
If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
I don't think so, but I've never had an iPhone. I did a quick Google search, and it looks like you use a program on your computer.
Can slashdot go a week without listing another app rejected?
"Serious question" coupled with "Apple like to hobble users" and "Apple censorship filter" causes me to believe your question isn't serious at all.
>> The problem is theres really no other alternative
Fucking Apple whore. The reason I keep myself away from Apple. Hate to use the term Sheeple, but you and your ilk are nothing but one.
Sorry , not wrong about kindle -- you you posted main reason why in your post!
I can download anything from Gutenberg, or any of the other 10K-100K public domain titles (depends on what source you credit, and what counts as a 'title', I supposed), and only pay 10 cent to register a public domain book to my amazon account so I can transfer my free-file to my kindle?
Remember the little blue books that became popular after the 1st depression? NEW, they were only 5-10cents each for a paper copy, and used, you could often pick 50 for a dollar! And you didn't have to register your purchase with anyone!
Such a deal only 10cents to read a 'free' book on my kindle.
Or are you saying I can write into kindle and tell them ALL of the paper-copy (Paperback and hardback) books I own, and for 10-cents they'll provide me with a mono-chrome, kindle version? Will it include all diagrams and pics? How do they scan in older books? How do they verify my ownership? Do I just send them a photocopy of the title page? Somehow I think you are telling me the former. That I only need to pay 10cents to register any title I want to read w/Amazon. NOT a deal.
What was a deal was when someone wrote a python script that allowed you download such books directly to your kindling from your computer -- no Amazon registration or fee required.
If I have a PDF-encryted/registered ebook I bought from someone else, I want to be able to load it as well (presuming I can have my 'reader' act as 'book-cache' for my main computer.
While I'm comfortable that I can add Terabyte disks to my local computer to hold all my books and that I can backup my disks -- and that I can have the option to download any of those books at anytime to a portable reader (like a kindle -- but ideally full color), I don't have the faith that I can extend or expand my kindling's capacity nor read anything not licensed by Amazon, nor read anything when I am off the net, but still have my local laptop on a plane or *wherever* I don't want to accrue per-minute or per-megabyte download charges (as I would on most phones, unless I pay for unlimited dataplans). But even then, it's nothing like having local access to your library.
So no, not wrong about Kindle. They even charge to read free stuff. I can't download from my computer directly. Everything tied to Amazon's whim.
Nothing here should meant to be said to detract from the device itself -- only Amazon's desire to be the only access port to it.
Look into the nokia 5800, or the n97 if you can wait a month. The 5800 won the best multimedia smartphone award in the UK magazine Smartphone & PDA Essentials http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/news/item/9510_Nokia_5800_wins_as_Best_multim.php Slickdeals just showed a deal for 220$ to get a NAM version, unlocked, too, just a few days ago. Symbian is epic.