After Siri, Apple fluffs on books
By Xu Chi |
November 3, 2012, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CONTROVERSIES continue to dog Apple Inc, this time with its App Store.
After previously being forced to halt iPhone Siri's search service that directed Chinese users to escort service and prostitutes, the US technology giant is back in the news again for more pornographic contents at its App Store.
Among the top 10 paid books at the App Store for Chinese users, five books are heavy on sexual contents with titillating titles such as "The Latest Collection of Erotic Books for Adults," or "You can't hold it - 200 Erotica."
The books, available for 6 yuan (96 US cents) to 12 yuan each, are banned for their pornographic contents.
While it claims that they are suitable only for readers above 18 years old, it is freely available for download to anyone paying for its content.
In one of the most popular free phone games on the platform named "Joy," Apple users are directed to scantily clad female cartoon characters.
On touching different parts of the body of the cartoon, users hear moaning that supposedly "practise massage techniques on girl's body" - or so the app claims. The game is available for every one.
A spokesperson for the company passed on the blame on the app's developers.
The spokesperson, surnamed Huang, told Xinhua news agency that although Apple strictly checked the apps before they were put on shelves, some of the content developers broke the contracts of their dealings.
Huang did not say if Apple would improve its supervision in the future to avoid more such controversies. Xinhua said Apple has told its users to send them e-mails of all the porn apps.
An Apple hotline customer service official told Shanghai Daily yesterday that he was aware of such "unhealthy apps" on the App Store, but it was "impractical" to remove all of them as "many people need those apps."
It was not the first time that the App Store was found offering free or paid pornographic downloads from its apps.
In September last year, parents complained about freely available mobile phone applications with pornographic content that they said could have a disturbing effect on children.
The parents said after they typed the Chinese word for "porn" in the search column at the App Store, a total of 189 applications for the iPad and 316 for iPhones were found available for download - some free while others costing up to US$2.99 each.
Xinhua said an official with the company told the news agency in September last year that they would report the incidents to senior officials, but little has happened since then.
Separately, an app software developer surnamed Chen told Xinhua that Apple took 30 percent as profits from all the paid apps on the platform, and that it was Apple's job to check the apps before putting them on shelves.
After previously being forced to halt iPhone Siri's search service that directed Chinese users to escort service and prostitutes, the US technology giant is back in the news again for more pornographic contents at its App Store.
Among the top 10 paid books at the App Store for Chinese users, five books are heavy on sexual contents with titillating titles such as "The Latest Collection of Erotic Books for Adults," or "You can't hold it - 200 Erotica."
The books, available for 6 yuan (96 US cents) to 12 yuan each, are banned for their pornographic contents.
While it claims that they are suitable only for readers above 18 years old, it is freely available for download to anyone paying for its content.
In one of the most popular free phone games on the platform named "Joy," Apple users are directed to scantily clad female cartoon characters.
On touching different parts of the body of the cartoon, users hear moaning that supposedly "practise massage techniques on girl's body" - or so the app claims. The game is available for every one.
A spokesperson for the company passed on the blame on the app's developers.
The spokesperson, surnamed Huang, told Xinhua news agency that although Apple strictly checked the apps before they were put on shelves, some of the content developers broke the contracts of their dealings.
Huang did not say if Apple would improve its supervision in the future to avoid more such controversies. Xinhua said Apple has told its users to send them e-mails of all the porn apps.
An Apple hotline customer service official told Shanghai Daily yesterday that he was aware of such "unhealthy apps" on the App Store, but it was "impractical" to remove all of them as "many people need those apps."
It was not the first time that the App Store was found offering free or paid pornographic downloads from its apps.
In September last year, parents complained about freely available mobile phone applications with pornographic content that they said could have a disturbing effect on children.
The parents said after they typed the Chinese word for "porn" in the search column at the App Store, a total of 189 applications for the iPad and 316 for iPhones were found available for download - some free while others costing up to US$2.99 each.
Xinhua said an official with the company told the news agency in September last year that they would report the incidents to senior officials, but little has happened since then.
Separately, an app software developer surnamed Chen told Xinhua that Apple took 30 percent as profits from all the paid apps on the platform, and that it was Apple's job to check the apps before putting them on shelves.
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