Apple has rejected a number of apps from its iPhone App Store since it was introduced last year, but some for more spurious reasons than others. The latest example is Eucalyptus, an e-book reader that gives access to content from Project Gutenberg, an online repository of copyright free works from authors like Mark Twain and William Shakespeare. Apple felt that users of the app might be “offended” by the “Kama Sutra,” one of the many books available on the app. Meanwhile Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader app, which offers access to 19 different versions of the “Kama Sutra,” was approved without a hitch.
Notable Quote
“Remember the dream of micropublishing? A few years ago, we still believed that costs were so low and online advertising so magical that the most arcane of subject matters could attract a viable audience. That dream is dead.“ – Nick Denton, founder of Gawker Media
Notable News
- Yahoo’s newspaper consortium has booked $50 million in ads (but papers are still doomed) (AdAge)
- The Pope now has a Facebook app (AP)
- Ben Mezrich’s Facebook tell-all hits shelves July 14th (CNET)
- UK court rules in favor of eBay in L’Oreal copyright case (TechCrunch EU)
Notable Fundings
- BusinessInsider raises an estimated $5 million (PaidContent)
Even thought it sounds idiotic for Apple to reject that e-book reader, it is possible that its developers used the Kama Sutra stuff in their marketing or in the immediate screen of the app.
Still…silly reason to reject an app. Inconsistent and silly.