“Project Gutenberg, which has been operating since 1971, describes itself as ‘the first and largest single collection of free electronic books,'” Claburn reports. “It is a non-profit project that aims to make public domain e-books more widely accessible to Internet users.”
Claburn reports, “The availability of Project Gutenberg texts, some of which contain sexual content, suggests Apple is taking a more tolerant approach to old literature than to recent suggestive or explicit apps.”
Full article here.
First? Yes!
As a parent, I do worry about the content my kids can access on the internet, including iTunes.
One example I can think of off the top of my head is the Kama Sutra. I know it’s in Project Gutenberg, so it’s probably available in the iBookstore. My kids are still too young to be reading that kind of stuff. Do I want apple to add a rating on every book, and only allow my kids to preview/download books that are kid friendly? No. that doesn’t seem realistic.
I don’t know what the answer is. I’m really glad Apple has all the public domain books available for free. And it’s obviously not just the public domain books. Many of the books I enjoy reading have graphic war scenes with intense violence, and even a little sex. The movie version would definitely be rated R.
The answer is probably the same answer it’s been for decades. I’ll need to communicate to my kids what is appropriate, what I expect from them, and police it. And reminding them a whole lot.
When I was growing up explicit content was pretty hard to come by. Now it’s available to every kid on their cell phone, and now on the friendly hand held iPad sitting in the family room.
The world is a changing.
@ Mike B
I do want books with mature or adult content to be in a section that is blockable on my end. Just like other Apple parental controls, most people won’t notice unless they turn on the parental block. Otherwise I’ll spend too much.
Zinio announced that they are headed to the iPad. Wonder how Apple will handle Zinio magazines such as Penthouse?
mw: hair
lol – no, probably won’t see much of that:-)
iPAd will be a full success worldwide BUT:
Apple will be the laughing stock in Europe for all its hypocrisy about content!
America: a FREE country ?? LOOOLLL
This is slightly off-topic, but a valid question.
I have European colleagues, friends and acquaintances who “happen” to be over in the U.S. around April 3rd and want to purchase a iPad (or two).
No problem purchase a iPad (or two) with a foreign credit card. The Apple Store and Best Buy will gladly take the money, but the question of content purchases comes to mind.
Does anyone know or can cite reliable sources that you can purchase content from the U.S. iTunes and iBookstore using a foreign credit card?
If precedence is anything to go by, I can purchase music and videos from the iTunes U.K. store, but only using my UK based credit card. A U.S. based one does not work.
Thoughts? Exclamations? Indignity?
@ MIke B
While I am not dismissing your’s or anyone else’s concerns about content accessibility, I think you are underestimating how easy it has always been for people of any age to access print media with graphic content.
I mean, if a child is really, truly curious about sex (in line with your Kama Sutra example), then there are a multitude of ways he or she could get information… starting with the local libraries and bookstores. Even setting aside that for a moment, if there were no print media in existence, the internet is a big place, with access ports beyond your control and information on anything one could imagine. It’s just not possible to shield one’s offspring from everything that’s out there. For this reason I feel it imperative to prepare rather than shield.
Children are a great deal smarter and tougher than we give them credit for, and if they have developed the intellectual curiosity to ask a question, then they ready to hear the answer.
Kids who haven’t yet reached the age of curiosity, even if they saw an illustration from the Kama Sutra, would ignore it – it simply wouldn’t be on their radar. If however, they did notice it and ponder it’s meaning, then you know that it is time to explain to your child the most basic rules of nature, and how it works.
@ Willie G
Well said.
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@YipYipYippee
Just purchase a few iTunes Gift Cards while they are in the states.
YipYipYippiee:
If I remember correctly, it is not about where you buy the device; it is about where you activate iTunes account. You can get your iPod or iPad anywhere in the world. However, you must create an iTunes account in the country where you have your credit card’s issuing bank. In addition, iTunes will require that your billing address is in the same country. So, regardless of where you live (South of France, Aruba, Canary Islands), if you have a US credit card, and a valid US billing address (i.e. not some PO Box), you can create an account in the US iTunes store and purchase from there. Same account is used for purchases on iPods, iPhones and iPads.
I’m not sure, but I believe iPhone store also requires that the iPhone is activated on the carrier in the same country, although I’m not sure about this (since in several countries, iPhones can legally be bought unlocked, thus without a mandatory carrier).
So, feel free to buy as many iPads in the US as you can physically carry back to the UK (or as Apple will allow you) and smuggle them into the UK. You should be able to sync them to your home Macs and use your UK store (iTunes, AppStore, iBookstore, and whatever future store Apple brings).
@ Adam T. Lindley
Thanks for the fast response.
My concern is Apple may prevent the purchase of content, when the user is in another country. Having said that, I suppose if the gift card value is in USD denomination, it should allow the purchase, even if the iTunes or iBookstore server does a look-up of the incoming IP and it is outside of the U.S.
Just wish there was an easily accessible FAQ on this subject.
Long story short: iTunes/AppStore/iBookstore accounts work ONLY when the credit card and billing address is located in the same country as the store.
Device itself can be bought anywhere in the world.
@Willie G
Very eloquent. Much more so than I would have put it, but I agree if they are getting curious then it’s time to talk.
@Mike B
I understand where you are coming from too as I have a 7 year old. However, out of everything out there, I believe the Karma Sutra to be one of the more benign things to happen across on the internet.
This is not aimed at you Mike, but I am constantly amazed at how we Americans can watch someone decapitated on CNN or the nightly news with little outrage and then have a public outcry because a breast was exposed for a split second. Always struck me as fairly backwards.
There is no legitimate reason to exclude tasteful erotica, while allowing explicit music, and R-rated movies.
Leave it up to the consumer to decide to turn it on or off. Use a credit card to verify age requirements, and make it a preference, that requires manual activation.
@ YipYipYippee
You can create a second fake US account without a credit card if you use USD gift cards. It doesn’t matter what IP the purchase is taking place from. The billing address on the account must be in the store’s country. However a credit card is not required to set-up an iTunes account.
Well, since we seem to be expanding on the subject, here’s more specific info, from experience.
My sister-in-law lives in Den Haag (The Hague, Netherands). She moved there from US, several years ago. She still maintains a US address (actually, my own home), and several US credit cards. She also maintains a US account for Amazon, Expedia, and Apple/iTunes (stuff is often much cheaper, even if shipped all the way to EU). She also has an Apple/iTunes account under her name in The Netherlands (associated with her local iPhone). She can easily log into either of Apple/iTunes accounts from her home Macs, as well as from her iPhone.
As long as you have a valid credit card and billing address in a country of your choice, you should be able to create an account there. iTunes does NOT do any IP checking in order to find out if you’re accessing from overseas. Most likely it is because many Apple users are globetrotters and cannot be confined to the borders of any one single country, be it even America…
To anyone who wants to purchase from the US store, as a visitor from another country:
No, simply purchasing iTunes gift cards isn’t enough, because even with a download code, you still need to first establish an account.
However, there is a simple solution–While you’re here in the states, visit any convenience store, and purchase a prepaid credit card. You are able to activate the card using any address you like.
@TheConfuzed1 You are right about having to establish an account with an US address. However, a credit card is not needed to do so.
In other words, you cannot use a previously established non-US account, even with US gift cards. You can set up a new second account from anywhere with just the USD iTunes gift cards. You will have to provide a “billing” address, but it is not verified if you do a pure gift card setup. So fake it.
@Predrag
Hey, Predrag. Thanks for the feedback.
So, at worst, the folks who live in UK and Germany will NOT be able to make purchases, until their respective country’s iTune and iBookstore supports the iPad. In essence, about 60-90 days. Hmm…
Thanks all for your feedback. Looks like I’m going to be a designated billing address for some people. LOL!
Have a good weekend all.
Based on the info provided so far, your UK friends who’ll be in the US on or around 3 April should:
Buy a pre-paid US credit card (CVS, Wallgreens, RiteAid and others sell them)
Buy the iPad(s).
When they return, take those credit cards, look up a legitimate US street address (through Google Maps or something similar) and create US-based Apple accounts.
All you have to do is to periodically re-fill that US-based pre-paid credit card (in order to continue using US-based Apple store). That part may end up being the biggest hassle.
Hey hiphip
any cahance your friends are stopping by Cancun?
Parents are so naive. Kids should learn somehow…
‘@Willie G: your argument has the academic, sterile tome of someone who is not a parent. The suggestion that kids who are old enough to ask a question are per se capable of handling all details of all answers is belied by common sense and research. Moreover, it inherently presupposes no right in the parent to make the decision. And your counterpoint that a child too young to understand what he or she sees will simply ignore it is laughable. And also belied by pragmatic experience and research.
If someone else wants to play psychological experiments with their children’s emotional development, that is their prerogative. Up to a point. But early sexualization and violence acclimation are, in my opinion, significant problems in the US. I was raised by a very open minded, literary and science minded family. That did not mean my parents were cavalier about the depth of the material they offered. It meant they were paying attention as parents. As they should. As I should.
You get to make your choices as a parent…….if you ever become one. You do not get to make mine for me, no matter how smug you may be about it. I appreciate the fact that Apple offers tools to help me actively manage my children’s access to what I deem inappropriate content. And while I recognize that they may seek information in a variety of places, I can ateast help provide them a value based context for the digestion of that information.
Based on your view, I might as well leave graphic porn and snuff films running on my iPad while it sits on the kitchen counter, so that my older children see it supplied by me and think that it is okay, while my younger children ignore it as uninteresting. Exactly what naive Petri dish did you just crawl out of?
@cogitoergomac
You have a real gift for hyperbole and taking things way out of context.
I never suggested that a child who was old enough to ask a question is capable of handling ALL of the details of the topic. That’s laughably foolish and the fact that you came to that conclusion tells me from the jump that you have very suspect reading comprehension skills.
One can answer the question a child may pose about sex without going into every graphic, depraved detail. Or are you incapable of such self restraint? I mean, you imply to have a firm grasp on common sense, so I really can’t see how you could miss something so basic.
I also must say that it is beyond laughable that you as a parent think that you have any sort of power over when these questions come up. Sure, you can and should do whatever you feel is necessary with respect to parental controls and whatnot. I mean, you would be irresponsible not to. My point is that despite these efforts, you cannot shield your child completely. There are way more ways to access information than you seem to realize, and you’re a damn fool if you think you can control them all.
Like it or not, your child will eventually see something sexual or violent or graphic in some other regard that falls well ahead of whatever timeline you have laid out in your head, and you had damn well be prepared to handle it. Like I said, children are a great deal more resilient than you give them credit for. It’s ok to talk to them in a frank, intelligent way about questions that they have, and to encourage them to bring those questions to you. If you foster an environment of overreaction to such subject matter, your child will simply explore their curiosities behind your back.
You say that early exposure to sex and violence is a big problem, and I agree. However, being powerless to change that my central point was that preparing your child, equipping them with the tools they need to handle and process that exposure is paramount.
An equally large problem to early exposure is the excessive coddling we inflict on our offspring in increasing amounts with each generation. From not allowing tag to be played at school, because of concern that being ‘it’ and having everyone run from them will somehow scar their psyche to the labeling of early seasons of Sesame Street on DVD as not being suitable for children are perfect examples of this. The age of political correctness has come with the nasty side effect of people putting their children in a bubble. It’s ridiculous at best and has led to a generation of young adults who walk around with a sense of entitlement, no work ethic, and an inability to handle even the most mundane hardship.
The job of a parent is not to cover them so securely that they never endure any hardship or pain, but to be there for them to prop them back up when they do. Childhood is supposed to have awkward, emotionally painful, confusing moments. If they do not experience these things at a young age when you are still right there to help them through it, then they will be woefully unprepared when they encounter those same feelings on the much larger scale of independent adulthood. As a result of this, they will be dysfunctional as adults.
As I wrap this up, I have to say that your closing paragraph is one of the most idiotic things I have ever laid my eyes upon. For someone capable of articulate expression of their thoughts, you are really quite a moron. There was never even the HINT of a suggestion that it would be acceptable to allow the scenario you painted to play out. I pity your children and their future for having to be raised by such an intellectually limited individual as yourself.
Thanks for playing…