There has been many other cases in which apps have been denied, and even recently a "baby shaking" app was APPROVED then later banned. Apple stands strong on trying to be unoffensive to its customers, and that includes apps it supports. The main reason the app was denied was because of the song "The Downward Spiral" which has some swearing and mentions death. Their singer Trent Reznor (from Mercer, 60 miles north of Pittsburgh) had this to say about the denial:
Now, "The Downward Spiral" the album is not available anywhere in the iPhone app. The song "The Downward Spiral" I believe is in a podcast that can be streamed to the app. Thanks Apple for the clear description of the problem - as in, what do you want us to change to get past your stupid fucking standards? And while we're at it, I'll voice the same issue I had with Wal-Mart years ago, which is a matter of consistency and hypocrisy. Wal-Mart went on a rampage years ago insisting all music they carry be censored of all profanity and "clean" versions be made for them to carry. Bands (including Nirvana) tripped over themselves editing out words, changing album art, etc to meet Wal-Mart's standards of decency - because Wal-Mart sells a lot of records. NIN refused, and you'll notice a pretty empty NIN section at any Wal-Mart. My reasoning was this: I can understand if you want the moral posturing of not having any "indecent" material for sale - but you could literally turn around 180 degrees from where the NIN record would be and purchase the film "Scarface" completely uncensored, or buy a copy of Grand Theft Auto where you can be rewarded for beating up prostitutes. How does that make sense? You can buy The Downward Fucking Spiral on iTunes, but you can't allow an iPhone app that may have a song with a bad word somewhere in it. Geez, what if someone in the forum in our app says FUCK or CUNT? I suppose that also falls into indecent material. Hey Apple, I just got some SPAM about fucking hot asian teens THROUGH YOUR MAIL PROGRAM. I just saw two guys having explicit anal sex right there in Safari! On my iPhone! Come on Apple, think your policies through and for fuck's sake get your app approval scenario together.
Pretty strong emotions from Trent, I would say. He brings up a few points. Why does Apple even allow their song on iTunes to begin with? Apple, how ever long they decide to keep this particular approval process going, will have a bias opinion and will never really make all users happy and unoffended by every app that it allows. People of all backgrounds will be offended by even the most "innocent" apps available.
