'Hottest Girls' App Banned by Apple

After briefly allowing the "Hottest Girls" app to be available on Apple's App store for the iPhone, iTouch and iTunes, the company has reversed itself citing its strict prohibition of adult content.

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The "Hottest Girls" app was allowed because initially it showed only risky dressed women - something other apps do as well - but then was promptly removed when the app designer uploaded nude women.

An Apple spokesman stated, "Apple will not distribute applications that contain inappropriate content."

Apple strictly vets all apps before they are allowed into the store - there are over 50,000 apps in total. This vetting has irritated many app developers who state that the policy lacks coherence.

Recently, I spoke to two young IT developers who told me about their experience and how their app - which would have projected a home PC onto the iPhone/iTouch - was rejected for no apparent reason while a similar app was approved.

Critics point to the rejection of, say, a South Part app. Apple said the app contained offensive language, but, critics point out, unedited South Park episodes and movies with explicit sex scenes, violence and profanity can now be downloaded directly onto the iPhone/iTouch from the iTunes store.

Either all so-called offense content should be banned or Apple should stop being selective, critics charge. To be fair, the iTunes and App store are, alas, two different stores and having different standards - even though it is uploading to the same device - is not entirely illogical.

And Apple is experimenting with allowing app developers to institute age verification on adult apps so as to ban adolescent sales. But then Apple sales rated R films, which an adolescent cannot buy a movie ticket for, on the iTunes store without any age verification.

Does anyone see the ultimate logic in having such strict standards - even for language - for apps but then selling Basic Instinct through iTunes?