“A conservative filmmaker in Hollywood thought he had developed a worthwhile iPhone app: a telephone directory listing every U.S. senator and congressman, with caricatures of the legislators drawn by an artist,” Gene J. Koprowski reports for FOX News. “But Apple apparently didn’t see the value, and the computer behemoth said a cartoon drawing of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was part of the reason why.”
“The filmmaker, Ray Griggs, told FoxNews.com that his small firm, RG Entertainment, received a rejection letter from Apple this week calling the caricatures ‘objectionable.’ He added that he has received several e-mails suggesting that Apple stock owned by Pelosi’s husband may have played a factor in the decision,” Koprowski reports. “Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill, when questioned about the application, said ‘this is the first I’ve heard of this.’ He declined to comment further. Apple didn’t return repeated phone calls and e-mails seeking comment for this story. RG has developed other apps for the iPhone that Apple has accepted.”
“The directory’s caricatures feature the drawings of every member of Congress — Republicans, Democrats and independents alike — by freelance artist Tom Richmond, who has drawn for Mad Magazine. The heads of the politicians bobble on the iPhone screen,” Koprowski reports. “The app was developed for young voters who want instant online and telephone access to their senators and congressmen.”
Koprowski reports, “Apple’s rejection letter for Griggs’ app states: ‘Thank you for submitting Bobble Rep – 111th Congress Edition to the App Store. We’ve reviewed Bobble Rep – 111th Congress Edition and determined that we cannot post this version of your iPhone application to the App Store because it contains content that ridicules public figures.'”
MacDailyNews Take: So what? Public figures exist to be ridiculed. And the whole point of caricature is meant to depict a person or thing with certain striking characteristics exaggerated in order to create a comic and/or distorted effect in the name of instant recognition. Caricature has a very long and important history in politics, entertainment, literature, etc. It’s an art form, not something that should be banned because some politically correct cretan in a Cupertino cubicle thinks there’s a chance that it might offend somebody somewhere. Newsflash: Somebody somewhere will always be offended no matter what.* Sheesh. Thomas Nast is spinning in his grave right now.
MacDailyNews Note: Read Tom Richmond’s reaction to Apple’s idiotic, ill-conceived rejection via his blog here.
Koprowski continues, “The e-mail was signed by the ‘iPhone Developer Program’ — no name was given — and it included an image of Pelosi that it deemed ‘offensive.’ [Griggs said], ‘These politicians are public figures. No permission is needed to write or comment on them. We have a complete right to do this.'”
“Griggs said he’s received a lot of e-mail alleging that Speaker Pelosi’s husband, Paul, owns $5 million in shares in Apple, and the Washington newspaper Roll Call wrote that the speaker’s spouse owned the shares,” Koprowski reports. “Pelosi’s spokesman would not answer e-mailed questions asking whether her husband still owns the shares, or whether she or her staff or her husband were in contact with Apple regarding the images.”
MacDailyNews Take: So, Griggs received a lot of email. Big deal. As if Pelosi or her husband has a hot line to Apple’s snot-nosed app approval flunkies. Seriously, we’d be shocked if either of The Pelosis even know there is an App Store, much less have a hand in rejecting a once-obscure iPhone app that offers online and telephone access to senators and congressmen alongside their caricatures. Let’s stay at least loosely connected with reality, okay? That said, Griggs is doing the right thing and should keep conjuring up as much publicity as possible. Maybe this one’ll finally prompt Apple to take some meaningful action or at least explain why an app devoted to a helping a cartoon monkey piss into a toilet before the room overflows with pee is fine and dandy for App Store inclusion, but this app is not.
Koprowski reports, “Some think Apple may simply have been acting cautiously. Nationally syndicated columnist and commentator Betsy Hart tells FoxNews.com: ‘I don’t think this is just another case of liberal media bias. While it may start there, surely Apple has witnessed what the Democratic machine in Washington has done or attempted to do as it has muscled into the American banking, auto and energy industries. And that’s not to mention healthcare. If I were the folks at a multibillion dollar corporation like Apple, I wouldn’t want to tick off Nancy Pelosi and her gang either!'”
Read more details in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple blew it. Again. This app features caricatures of all 540 members of Congress, regardless of political party. This app should never have been rejected and whoever’s in charge of the college intern(s) in Apple’s App Store approvals department is clearly incompetent enough to be serving in the U.S. Congress themselves.
This falls into exactly the same category as the “I Am Rich” rejection. Apple should make sure that apps are safe to run on iPhone OS and leave taste, or lack thereof, out of the approval equation. It’s not Apple’s responsibility to “protect” people from downloading apps that may offend the downloaders’ or others’ sensibilities. Frankly, nobody much cares if you’re “offended.” STFU and deal with it; we’re beyond tired of all the whining. Nobody’s entitled to a life free of offense and insult, real or imagined. That’s simply not how this planet and the human race work. Attempting to thwart human nature instead of using it constructively is the root of mankind’s folly. We could’ve used “humankind” there, but we didn’t. And, we’re never changing it. Deal with it.
Apple’s only considerations should be to make sure apps do not harm the device and/or encourage physically harming others, directly or indirectly. That’s why we immediately condemned that despicable “Baby Shaker” app and applauded Apple for nixing it. Of course, it never should have been approved in the first place, but we already knew that Apple’s app approval process had major issues long before that particular SNAFU. (And, by the way,” for those that want to bring up FPS or similarly violent games: A defenseless infant is actually different than an armed soldier. If you’re ever in an actual war, you’re supposed to fight the enemy; if you’re ever holding a real baby, you’re never, ever to shake him or her.)
Members of Congress are public figures and political caricatures are part of the deal that comes with holding public office. The fact that these particular caricatures are so innocuous only highlights the severity of Apple’s App Store approval issues.
We don’t know if Apple’s problem is: (a) the quality of the staff they’ve hired to flip the coins they use to determine app approvals; (b) if said staff is totally overwhelmed; (c) if said “staff” is really just that lone not-so-smart MobileMe launch guy whom the new, more mellow Steve didn’t have the heart to fire; or (e) all of the above, but they really ought to have worked it out by now.
When they wake up, people with brains at Apple are likely going to want to correct this one yesterday. The problem is that yesterday has passed. Another looming App Store PR debacle is all that remains.
MacDailyNews Note: Contact Apple via Web form here.
UPDATE: November 14, 3:03 PM EST: About face! Apple approves iPhone app featuring caricatures of politicians for sale in App Store
*Trust us on that one. You should read our email.
@MacMan
Lawsuits, eh? While I concede that Apple has to act within certain bounds (e.g., non-discrimination), do you actually have a “right” to post an iPhone app? In that case, I might have something I’d like to post on your facebook page…it must be my right.
Conservatives claim to be pro-business until it suits them (or lawsuits them) to be otherwise.
MacMan
King Mel is right! The 1st amendment deals with your right against the government, not a company, barring your free speech.
@Proud American
That’s fine, as long as you don’t use those nasty conservative tactics.
Seriously, do you think that you hold the cards in terms of dedication, devotion, and commitment to the ideals on which this country were founded? It appears that the GOP “reality-distortion” field has fully saturated its own.
Moderation is the key, folks. In general, the extremists on both ends are far too close-minded and in love with their professed agendas. Our Congress has become disfunctional over the past few decades, as has our legal system. Seriously, is everything in the world now termed a disability?
Apple should outsource the approval process for the app store and stay above the fray.
They’ve blessed over 100k apps, which is an extraordinary feat in and of itself, but some just can’t seem to keep this in perspective, and would instead make unwarranted threats, raise conspiratorial practices, raise the notion that Apple is anti-democracy, when in fact they have given thousands, if not billions of us, a marvelous venue for expression.
I can let this go, because in the bigger picture, Apple has performed almost flawlessly to deliver a marvelous product that is open to every stripe.
To those who would smear Apple over this one app, in spite of the fact that a handful of individuals who work to weigh the merits of thousands of submissions aren’t being very realistic. Everyone needs to take a breath and ask yourself is this really that significant enough to all worked up about? Personally, I don’t see any trend here, however there are those here, especially non-registered members who will take the smallest issue and use it to advance their hateful agendas.
I say let it go! We have greater issues to deal with.
and there are bound to be a few stinkers
@ Proud American: Same conservative rhetoric, different day.
For the umpteenth time, socialism is not the same as communism. Look it up, you frelling retard.
If you don’t like any socialism, then lets dig up all the roads by your house, stop police and fire service to your neighborhood, and close all the parks. Oh, and we can empty the prisons too. SOME levels of socialism are unavoidable. Social provisions are considered marks of an advanced society.
If you are so enamored of the past I’ll get you a tri-cornered hat, boot you through a time machine, and see how you enjoy using a horse as transportation and having to go outside to poop.
@proud american
**THWACK** and **THWACK**
Hey derekcurrie, I though you said if you cut off their heads, zombies die?
proud american is a patriotic troll declaring war against americans, liberal or otherwise, they’re still americans, and your calling liberals commies? That’s rich.
Proud american has never served his country. Fail.
Apple thinks that ‘FARTS’ are OK, but ‘FRUMPS’ are not?
Nancy Lugosi can’t even shut her eyes – she’s stretched so tight.
Looks like Cupertino is much closer to San Francisco than a road map would make one think….
just my $0.02
G4Dualie,
Obviously, you’ve never attended an English class. Fail.
Proud American is as much entitled to his opinion and dissent as anyone else.
Holy crap…
MDN is on a ‘tear’ (hint: rhymes with ‘bear’) with their ‘take’.
Gotta love it.
MaWo: ‘showed’.
btw, I also love it when the ‘National Socialists’ (trained, taught, & educated) knee-jerk reactionaries resort to name-calling because of their inability to intellectually persuade others to agree with their position.
Please continue to do so. This will continue to illustrate your tyrannical Marxist / Stalinist / (“Those who disagree with us should be destroyed.”) position. Thank you for showing what you really are.
You can tell conservatives are involved on a story when the hysterical invective and “leftist conspiracy” nonsense gets thrown around. And get a grip on reality, teabaggers. After watching that dipshit Palin in action, do you think anyone gives a sh!t what you think of Pelosi? You are obviously judgement impaired.
Is CNNMoney.com a good enough source for you? I can’t understand the FoxNews haters here. Just like the President you should get a life and not be such a cry baby because some news organization doesn’t put your spin on things for you.
“it contains content that ridicules public figures”
Quick contact Apples ad agency! If ridicule if off limits at Apple they better quit making those Mac/PC ads……….
Yeah, this is Apple at its most IDIOTIC. Though I’m an Apple fan, and shareholder, I have to say this type of BS is occurring with increasing frequency.
To Apple: FIX THIS FAST!
I’m not a big fan of the extreme left or right, but I don’t see what the big fuss was for Apple. Just how was the caricature of Pelosi offensive? MDN, you’re correct. Apple blew it big time on this one.
Journo:
G4Dualie’s reaction wasn’t to Proud American’s right to dissent and free speech. It was to his declaration of war on his fellow Americans who don’t think like him. The Proud American has crossed the line, since he is publicly implying violence in order to fight for his own political views.
The statement sounded exactly as if it had been taken out of Joseph McCarthy’s speeches. If anyone here isn’t familiar with the guy, he was the most vicious and evil political figure in the American history (and competition is rather strong there). He destroyed lives of thousands of great Americans because of their purported political beliefs. Our Proud American is hoping for a re-run of that McCarthy show…
The entire problem here is that Apple is opening itself up to potential lawsuits with the whole “We need to not only police the quality of apps on the app store, but also the content of apps.” Please Apple, focus only on the quality and put a large disclaimer in your license agreement to end users that states that Apple has no responsibility for the content of apps.
As I have said before, Apple approving content on apps would be like if Microsoft had to approve every application that runs on Windows and as part of this approval, had to approve the content as well.
Predrag,
Are you referring to Proud American’s promise to “fight… tooth and nail?” I ask, because I read that as a figure of speech, not an implied incitement of actual violence.
Stop branding people who don’t agree with your views – views that have repeatedly and routinely failed throughout human history – as hoping for “vicious and evil” people to gain power and you’ll likely get more of the under-25/no life experience/Democrat-voting crowd to agree with your warped, failed thinking.
Big government is not the answer.
If I’ve lost MacDailyNews, I’ve lost the Apple fans.
I love Apple’s products. But when they delve into politics, they risk losing up to 50% (or more) of potential customers. Remember, this country was founded based on the ideas of life, liberty (which means freedom), and the pursuit of happiness.
Apple can do what they want, but do ALL of Apple’s employees feel the same, or just those at the top?
Do all of our citizens feel the same as Nancy Pelosi?
Does Apple vote in public elections? Does Steve Jobs get two votes when Apple takes a political positions for the company? Should he? Or should he get the same as everyone else: one individual, one vote?
This is change we are going to have to live with for a few more years.
Where is fredom of speech/expression? Ask a czar.
Give me a break.
@gladrob
What are you talking about? Seems the feelings that were hurt was Mr. Pelosi’s. Not the conservatives.
And that’s right, this is a free country and if we dont like what Apple’s doing or their policies, those that want to can go somewhere else.
I hope we are still free to do that.
And presently I think we have too many cry babies and too many of them have been voted in.
Come on people, don’t hold back, tell us how you really feel.
As a resident of The Rest of the World™, I am offended by every America only App or Feature that doesn’t work for us or is irrelevant to us. Except for a few American ex-pats, most of The Rest of the World™ could care less about this App.
As for the App acceptance criteria, Apple should just rate this App as a Political App and not let anyone under the voting age have access to it.
For those of you who think the First Amendment to the US Constitution contains a freedom of speech, it actually says that the government itself cannot restrict free speech. Apple, as a private corporation, has wide latitude to restrict content.
That being said, Apple probably will not react to this situation or even comment. So, we’re not going to know their real reason, and, in lieu of no information, we’re going to fill in the blanks. This was dumb. As a progressive, and as opposed to the right wingers, I think it’s patriotic to criticize your leaders, as long as it is done with respect. This app seems respectful. And the Pelosi caricature is fine, even neutral.
This is one dumb decision by Apple, and will give the 5 Android and 10 Pre users an orgasm. Really.
Apple will NEVER win this battle in the end.