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WikiLeaks App Removed From Apple Store
Stoobalou writes "An 'unofficial' WikiLeaks App which contained published documents from the Cablegate leaks has been withdrawn from the Apple App Store.The $1.99 App created by developer Igor Barinov has been removed from sale without explanation despite the fact that all of the information contained in it is publicly available."
Well, I'm sure Safari would be pulled next because it makes the same information accessible.
http://images.worldofapple.com/appstoreguidelines_9910.pdf
Donations can only be collected with free apps. That's where this specific app went wrong. Simple. Funny that Apple needed 4 days to find out.
Why would Apple need to risk reputation by supply questionable material via the App store? The app in question provided direct access to a site that has now entered into legal limbo. Apple is a private company, meaning they have every right to publish whatever content they like. I suppose from the parent post that Mastercard, PayPal, etc are now 'slowly turning into the government'. They probably made the same decision. It's not worth dealing with the bad public opinion of a cheap app.
Then why is The Guardian's app still in the app store, genius? It too provides easily accessible access to the leaked cables, and is even one of the news agencies that has the complete file containing all of the cables.
As to the information being 'publicly available', so is internet porn, child pornography, instructions to make bomb's, etc. None of which are allowed in the App Store. It's a straw man argument.
And all of those things are illegal. I don't see the US government taking The New York Times to court, and they've been one of the news orgs publishing these things, so...
Users can always browse to Wikileaks to it if they want to see that information, and Apple will do nothing to prevent that, just as they don't prevent you from browsing porn or whatnot. They simply refuse to peddle it.
Once again, why is The Guardian's app still in the store then?
Living With a Nerd
What legal limbo? It is operating fully within the law here in the EU. Just because a couple of politicians on the other side of the pond have been braying their heads off doesn't create a legal limbo.
Not random at all... the app violates the donation prohibition in their store. Apps that solicit donations must be free, and this app promises a donation of $1 for each $1.99 purchase.
Now, that prohibition might be a different reason to hate Apple, but they aren't necessarily going after Wikileaks.
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
http://images.worldofapple.com/appstoreguidelines_9910.pdf
See section 21. Donations can only be collected with free apps, and only in certain ways. Most likely since Apple cannot confirm that $1 is being donated like the app submitter is saying, it got pulled. If the person resubmits it with in app donations it will probably pass again. Otherwise we will have an explosion of "pay me $1.99 and I'll donate $1" apps all over the place and no money getting donated. Where as in app donations can be confirmed.
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i wonder what anonymous will do to apple's app store.
Probably the same thing they did to Amazon.com
Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
In other news, Assange is suffering a major sense of humour failure over the Guardian publishing details from the leaked police report into his case.
http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/assange-turns-on-the-guardian-over-assault-case-coverage/s2/a542064/
If you're very, very quiet and listen very, very carefully, you might be able to hear the world's tiniest violin playing for Assange. ;-)
Your pessimism certainly won't.
An important change for education.
Maybe the laws are different over there, but the last I check here, knowingly accepting stolen property is still a crime.
Why do people keep bringing this one up? The data in the stolen cables is not property because the US government can not have copyright to anything, and data is not property if it is not under copyright. Transferring classified materials is usually only a crime if you had clearance to receive the materials in the first place. The exceptions to that rule probably don't apply to Assange.
Do I need to say this on every Wikileaks thread?
The bigger picture is that this is just another step on the road towards fascism, where all the corporations line up to show that they are on the side of the government. In return the corporations hope to get greater influence over government regulations, government policy and the flow of government dollars.
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