The difference between spam filters and what the apple store is doing comes down to who is doing it. You are in control of your spam filters. You still have the ability (with most filtering systems I’ve encountered, save one) to view the mail which has been flagged as spam (one filter had the ability to directly & permanently delete). Not so with the way Apple is operating. Sure, it’s their store. So they can pick and choose. But it stops being “their” device once it is sold — or does it? o.O I don’t have one, so maybe somewhere in the fine print it states they have the ability to control any and all content on the device — ala Amazon’s Kindle.

And, yes… those people that are such prudes as to equate any and all nudity (or heck, swimsuits) as being “porn” are very “scary people” indeed. And it is for that purpose that I am worried about the direction that I’m seeing Apple head…

:shrugs: I guess I really shouldn’t let their decisions bother me so much — especially since I don’t own any of their devices.

For examples, read the “How Apple is Watering Down Fashion Spreads” post or this one that is yet another source that I’ve seen where it’s stating a “no swimsuit” policy as well.

So… if all that they say is “no porn”, but they ban more, then am I wrong in connecting the dots that they’re associated swimsuits with porn? o.O Perhaps. But at least I’m not alone… whether or not that’s a good thing is probably debatable.

• Apple VP attempts to explain double standard for risqué apps
• Apple and App Store censorship: where to draw the line?
• Apple’s War On Porn Is Just Getting Started

First of all, I and no one that I know (artist or not) considers Michelangelo’s David to be porn. Those who do are generally not taken very seriously, since they represent a more “extreme” side conservatism. More often than not, they are regarded as the “scary people”

That being said, the mainstream definition of porn is actually pretty simple: the blatant and graphic depiction of sexual intercourse. I trust I dont need to elaborate what blatant and graphic means in this context? Nudity is not porn, be it either male or female. Watching two people get it on is generally what people think of when they think “porn”

The reality is that Apple and Steve Jobs dont really give a damn what kind of content we have on our ipad/pod/phone’s, porn included. They are not in the business of enforcing a moralistic dogma on the general public. That’s the province of Church’s and Synagogues (a battle they have been losing over the last several decades, I might add).

So why the confusion? It’s easier for them to say “no porn”. It’s direct, and states their intent pretty clearly. It also leaves a barn door wide space for interpretation of their intentions. What I think they’re really saying is “Do what you want regarding what sites you visit or what pictures you put on your device. Just dont ask us to be a part of it” Translation: No pornographic content via their itunes store. This is why apps like that generally get scrutinized pretty heavily.

So is this a bad thing? Is this censorship? I guess it could be called that. But then again so could my spam filter on my email. I would love to be able to open my email and NOT get messages for XYZ porn content. My filter does a pretty good job and I am able to miss out on 99% of it.

Isnt that censorship? Its automatic, and I dont think I could disable it entirely. In the end, it’s the same desire with Itunes. I dont want to have to sift thru the sleaze to find what I want. As a tech oriented person, I can tune that stuff out to a more or lesser degree, but what about those in my parents generation? I dont know what my mother looks for on the itunes store, but I can state with certainty it is not “Debbie does Dallas”.

Finally, will Apple get into the game of adding filters and controls? I sincerely doubt it, for one very simple reason: They are NOT morons. They know that many (myself included) would not stand for something as blatant as that. There’s a degree of common sense that needs to be employed when discussing this topic, and unfortunately it something the censorship alarmists never seem to be able to do.