Another app has been banned from iTunes. The issue this time wasn’t copyright like that of “Tris.” This time it was a matter of censorship, and it wasn’t even strictly in China like the recent “Songs for Tibet” controversy.
This time, Apple itself has refused to offer “Comic Reader,” an app that would allow comic publishers to offer their work in a format that could be downloaded to an iPhone or iPod. It’s not the app itself that has Apple up in arms, however. Accompanying the app was the violent comic Murderdrome from publisher Infurious.
Comic fans, including Infurious themselves, are upset due to the fact that other violent content is readily available via iTunes. “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,” says a post on the publisher’s blog.
Infurious is calling for fans to come forward and help them change Apple’s mind. They’re using the comments on the aforementioned blog post as something of a petition, which they intend to email to Apple.
In the meantime, Infurious is apparently moving on with other projects. According to Philip Elmer-DeWitt for Fortune, the publisher says, “The plan is to hold Murderdrome and concentrate on our other titles, which will be more Apple friendly.”
Infurious has also taken the liberty of offering the first episode of Murderdrome at the blog.
