Apple Fails To Block Porn and Gambling 'Enterprise' Apps (techcrunch.com)

Facebook and Google were far from the only developers openly abusing Apple's Enterprise Certificate program meant for companies offering employee-only apps. A TechCrunch investigation uncovered a dozen hardcore pornography apps and a dozen real-money gambling apps that escaped Apple's oversight. From the report: The developers passed Apple's weak Enterprise Certificate screening process or piggybacked on a legitimate approval, allowing them to sidestep the App Store and Cupertino's traditional safeguards designed to keep iOS family friendly. Without proper oversight, they were able to operate these vice apps that blatantly flaunt Apple's content policies. The situation shows further evidence that Apple has been neglecting its responsibility to police the Enterprise Certificate program, leading to its exploitation to circumvent App Store rules and forbidden categories.

Comments

Microsoft fails to stop porn and gambling apps

[Anonymous Coward]

See how stupid this headline is? That's how stupid apple is for not allowing anyone to run whatever they damn well please on hardware they own and paid for.

Re:Microsoft fails to stop porn and gambling apps

[Shaitan]

No the larger problem here is your phone manufacturer usurping your right to decide what is sleazy and dishonest or even to be sleazy and dishonest. Their job is to produce a phone, not prevent someone from calling their buddy to buy a joint. How is it any different with your apps? The issue you raise is one for the users mother, spouse, or priest.

Where there are crimes around these things the sleaziest elements really come from the fact that arbitrary natural human behaviors are outlawed and therefore don't take place in the light of scrutiny and judgement. How is porn or even prostitution innately more sleazy than considering 'good provider' or 'has the right father' in your list of criteria for marriage? It isn't, it just threatens to reduce the artificial scarcity of a valuable commodity contrary to the interests of about 60% of the population. Because of that we have a sex slave trade, criminals, and social outcasts running these industries.

Re:Microsoft fails to stop porn and gambling apps

[ceoyoyo]

"As a tech guy, I would love my Phone, to be able to install any App I want."

It can. You just have to compile or sign it yourself. Apple used to charge $99 a year for that ability, but it's been free for a while.

Re:Microsoft fails to stop porn and gambling apps

[Shaitan]

You are speaking of Apple as if it a private company with rights. It isn't, Apple is a publicly traded company and the consumers who pay it's rent for it and the shareholders who are its landlords have a right to make demands of it. Apple has no right to moral judgement. The problem is those consumers are doing just what you said, buying on the basis of advertised functionality and Apple isn't advertising censorship in specs. Since they have a near monopoly censorship is a very big issue indeed.

Some companies do that to make different classes of product for higher profit but in this case Apple is leaving money on the table for.... oh right, there is no upside. And in a case like that Apple may ultimately have to answer to shareholders as well.

Legal weed, decriminalized hard drugs, no nipples.

[eggstasy]

Makes perfect sense to have lots of drugs, alcohol, tobacco, violence but have no tolerance for nipples.

Huh? WHy is Safari installed

[DarkRookie2]

...designed to keep iOS family friendly.

Safari come installed by default yes? You can get to porn and gambling really easy on that.

Not very practical to police all enterprise apps

[SuperKendall]

I don't think it's very practical for Apple to really police enterprise apps, due to the way they are distributed and who can possibly be running them. Lots of companies rely heavily on the aspect where you do not have to keep track of each and every device and people can easily install company apps on personal devices...

I think where Apple could improve things though is in the initial application for enterprise developer programs. At the very least, it seems like it would not take too much more effort to block one issue mentioned in the article - registering for an enterprise dev account with a stolen DUNS number. There should be some way that Apple could ask the main contact info for any given DUNS number to confirm they had indeed asked for such access... That wouldn't stop everyone but it would probably stop the worst cases.

Re: Legal weed, decriminalized hard drugs, no nipp

[Shaitan]

"Tits and nipples never hurt anyone."

ROFLMFAO

I don't think any of the above should be outlawed or censored in any way but you've got to be kidding with this. Behind every fight, war, ambition, and dispute there is at least one fine pair of tits. If it weren't for competition to get laid we'd all be content masturbating in caves and eating whatever thing we killed that day raw.