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'South Park' Application Rejected From App Store

Tuesday February 17, 2009 9:01 am PST by Eric Slivka
Boing Boing reports that an official South Park application, demoed and submitted to Apple in October, has been rejected for inclusion in the App Store. According to an e-mail received by Boing Boing from a member of the South Park team, the application was deemed by Apple to be "potentially offensive".

"We first announced our iPhone App back in October, after we submitted the Application to Apple for approval. After a couple of attempts to get the application approved, we are sad to say that our app has been rejected. According to Apple, the content was 'potentially offensive.' But Apple did admit that the standards would evolve, citing that when iTunes first launched it didn't sell any music with explicit lyrics. At this point, we are sad to say, the app is dead in the water. Sorry, South Park fans."

The source did not mention whether Apple objected to the entire application or to certain specific features of it, which were previously described in Boing Boing's October preview:

The app functioned beautifully, with the ability to stream clips, grab wallpapers for your device, read news, and browse the complete episode index. Also: choose character likenesses as "contact images" for your iPhone -- assign a face to the phone book entry of your choice.

While Apple has apparently left the door open to future shifts in its policies, the South Park team seems to have ceased its efforts to work towards App Store acceptance in the current environment.
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plumbingandtech
Posted: 43 months ago
Oh noes! What will fans of mindless juvenile crud do now?!

:rolleyes:


They should do a PRE or Android version. That'll teach apple....
:rolleyes:
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chr1s60
Posted: 43 months ago
This is a stupid move by Apple. Like Apple even stated, you can buy a damn song on iTunes that is practically all curse words, but then they reject an app based on it being offensive? I thought that was the reason for warnings. "Warning material contained in this app may be offensive and may not be appropriate for all ages." Let US decide what is offensive, don't make that decision for us.

Just for the record, I could care less about this app since I am not a big South Park fan. I just think the reasoning here is plain stupid.
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PoitNarf
Posted: 43 months ago
Dear Apple,

We would like to be the ones that determine if an app is 'potentially offensive'. Thanks for not listening.

Sincerely,
All of your customers
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rlreif
Posted: 43 months ago
this is the kind of crap that needs to be out front and center.... seriously, wtf? put this on the front page, and digg it

im so tired of this arbitrary ******** from apple... this needs to be publicized to make apple look bad
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Yvan256
Posted: 43 months ago
Movies, TV shows, music and games are rated, but there doesn't seem to be a rating/age/content system for the App Store (unless I missed it or not used in the Canadian iTunes Store).

Yes, adults should be the ones deciding if they want something or not. However, think about the parents who want to lock their kids accounts to kid-friendly content only.
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SFStateStudent
Posted: 43 months ago
Oh, thanks Apple for being my "Censorship MACHINE!" When do you start censorship of all those Sylvester Stallone trainwrecks??? :eek::mad::eek:
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PoitNarf
Posted: 43 months ago

Oh noes! What will fans of mindless juvenile crud do now?!


I'm guessing you really haven't watched South Park in the past couple of years. In the very beginning yes, it was much more juvenile. To this day there are still several gags per episode that many would label as juvenile. But mindless? Hardly. The most recent seasons of the show have contained episodes that poke fun at all sorts of social issues, religion, politics, terrorism... and all of which were done in a very creative and clever manner.

Don't let any bias you may have towards South Park lighten the fact that Apple is rejecting app submissions based upon it's own "standards and practices". We the customers should be the ones that ultimately decide which app we choose to install on our devices.
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cube
Posted: 43 months ago
Buy a real phone, not the fascist iPhone platform.
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nagromme
Posted: 43 months ago

Movies, TV shows, music and games are rated, but there doesn't seem to be a rating/age/content system for the App Store (unless I missed it or not used in the Canadian iTunes Store).


Exactly. Games have ratings, and they're apps. Apple should just extend the rating system to ALL apps, and everyone's happy. Simple enough.

Buy a real phone, not the fascist iPhone platform.


Kind of a catch-22 there: choose another phone, and you won't have nearly as many apps to choose from (nor as cheaply and easily) and they generally won't work as well. More choice... but less choice! And the South Park app might not show up on that phone at all--hard to say until it happens.

Apple's been easing up on their app acceptance policies lately, learning and clarifying as they go. It hasn't even been a year yet, but I would bet that in time, we'll get our South Park app on iPhone. In that sense, getting an iPhone now is partly a bet on the future of the platform.
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PoitNarf
Posted: 43 months ago

Exactly. Games have ratings, and they're apps. Apple should just extend the rating system to ALL apps, and everyone's happy. Simple enough.


100% agree. Why they don't currently have a rating system in place is beyond me.
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