“The editorial drawing [left] of Steve Jobs as a brush-wielding bowdlerizer appeared in Monday’s issue of Ekstra Bladet, a Danish tabloid with a sensationalist bent that likes to think of itself as a champion of the common man,” Philip Elmer-DeWitt reports for Fortune.
“One of the paper’s most popular features is its ‘Side 9 Pigen,’ the photo of a topless or totally nude woman that has graced the 9th page of every issue since 1979,” P.E.D. reports. “Because of the paper’s Page 9 Girl, Apple has refused to let Ekstra Bladet appear anywhere in its App Store, even the version seen only in Denmark.”
P.E.D. reports, “Ekstra Bladet, for its part, refuses to remove its beloved pin-up, and has launched a series of increasingly strident attacks on Apple that culminated Monday in the drawing above and an editorial.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Note: Ekstra Bladet’s “Side 9” page (NSFW) is totally accessible on any iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch via the built-in Safari browser.
Although I don’t speak Danish, I consider a subscription. Oh wait a minute, I live in The Netherlands, we have loads of that stuff ourselfs!
I think this behavior from this tabloid would qualify as an abuse of its journalistic responsibilities. Oh wait, it has none and is therefore considered entertainment?
I have to be honest, it bothers me what some
Will do to fling open doors just so they can make an extra buck. It’s bad enough that I have to shield my children and their natural curiosity from the stuff they see and hear on tv and in music, but these jokers want to force their crap on a place that I can let my kids roam relatively freely? I realize this is Danish but this needs to stop.
Oh, boo hoo. Another bunch of whiners. Let them take their apps to Android. They are ‘open’, after all. They’ll allow any kind of crap.
Hail Stevo for keeping Apple out of the gutter!
Seriously. I support Steve Jobs’ strong stance against pornography on the App store. It’s already a bad enough that this drug is as easy as it is to access. Don’t need it everywhere. It’s Apple’s Store, they get to decide what to carry on its shelves.
I like how Apple will protect children from porn on the iPhone, but those boobies look awesome.
It’s Apple’s store. They decide the content. It’s not a democracy. You don’t like it? Develop for another platform. Nobody’s forcing you onto the App Store.
That being said, I’m not offended by nudity, but here in America we mainly go by the classic puritan perspective – sex and nudity BAD, violence and gore FUCK YEA.
When I (or a small child) can switch on any number of crime drama shows during the day and see bloody, eviscerated corpses anytime, but it’s *SUCH A BIG DEAL* when someone’s nipple slips out during a Super Bowl halftime show, I have to wonder when this country’s culture will reassess itself. It’s absolutely backwards!
Apple is making the right *business* decision for their store, but that doesn’t mean I agree with the principle behind it.
I consider a nude pinup of me with my tongue sticking out the height of good taste! Steve-O you’re nuts to reject this one!
@AmericanJoe
@foodydude
It’s Apple’s right to set their own rules for their marketplace.
However, in general: many Americans are so cramped up on sexuality, it’s simply unbelievable and leads to excesses.
In USA the rate of rapes and sexual harassment is much higher than in Northwestern Europe. The taboo on sexuality causes this.
Nudity is not pornography. And some people really are terrible hypocrites when it comes to sexuality. All the countries are not under the canes of the religious bigots.
In the US, we should control things like this from our children, if that’s our and Apple’s desire. However, in Denmark, most particularly, pictures of a woman’s breasts, seeing women nurse babies in a park or on a city bus isn’t even thought of. And definitely, pin-ups of nude women in mags or online is about as offensive as watching a kid fall off his or her bike when learning to ride.
We are not the World Court as we have not become the Hague nor should American Companies dictate the tastes and moral standings if other countries.
If the iPad is to become the digital text book for our children in the next few years, then a little porn control is good in the apps. They can always surf like everyone else for that stuff.
Reamed out a bus load of sex loving Danish hotties a few summers ago. Glad daddy was missing in action. One chick gave me the most awesome BJ ever. LOL
I don’t consider a pinup porn (unless her orifices are loaded down…)
but I do appreciate Steve holding off on the nudity for the real ‘common man’ who avoids having such stuff around children.
And if you REALY want to see beautiful female nudes, Femjoy seems to be a good choice (dang, I drooled on my wireless again…)
Perhaps SJ just want to prove that you can still be decent enough to have no porn to help him sell his products. The Danish can still use flash if they want to.
In Europe I’ve seen breasts in ads on the sides of buses.
It’s a shame that here in the US the human body is considered dirty and evil and a corrupting influence.
It’s people with dirty, evil and corrupt minds who see it this way.
But, then why is that surprising when allowing US citizens to die in the streets or of sickness and disease is practically public policy.
They are called web apps!! you can control and take 100% of the profit than rely on apple. All the horn dogs in the office keep them on their home screen and they wonder why they are single.
Anyway I am for Apple’s stance on no porn. Android can allow it all they want but i know it’s easier to keep it off than deal with the backlash of the top 25 paid or free apps being porn related. And helps me know that i have more control in teaching my kids about sex rather them learn about it on their own and have no understanding about it and just do it like they do on the discovery channel.
IT’S A RESPONSIBILITY PEOPLE, and Apple i think helped it out a lot more than people think. I love that Steve thinks as a parent too when he looks at his products.
“…nor should American Companies dictate the tastes and moral standings if (sic) other countries.”
No, but they CAN ‘dictate’ the moral standings of their products and how they are perceived. Big difference.
“allowing US citizens to die in the streets or of sickness and disease is practically public policy.”
Yes, I know what you mean. I had to kick three out of the way this morning just to get cross the street.
Why can’t those damn buzzards work faster?
Regardless of what your moral/ethical/social/political/sexual sensibilities may be – Apple has a set of rules and regulations for apps that are offered for sale in their store. The keyword is THEIR store. Apple is not trying to regulate or change the nature of this publication in any way, shape or form. You can easily view the publication with Safari, complete with images. But, if the publication wants to offer itself for sale or distribution through the Apple App Store, it must conform to the standards and regulations set forth. It’s just like the average supermarket – you don’t see any porn there, you see it at the small shop down the block next to the liquor store. That way parents can go shopping with their kids and not have to explain all that stuff in public.
Are Americans a bit victorian compared to most Europeans? Perhaps. But Apple, like Disney for instance, is not going to upset the cart but presenting non-family friendly items.
What about that nifty monster dildo mouse that lights up, wiggles, and sings a song? Should Apple offer it for sale in the Apple Stores around the world?
If a shopkeeper (of any scale) wants to put an item on the shelf for sale, he/she is free to do so. If customers complain, or sales decline, or very few of the items in question sell, well then the shopkeeper knows it was a poorly selected item. It could be baked beans or whatever. Over time, the shopkeeper knows that he should stock 3 times more Skippy extra chunky peanut butter because he sells 3 times more of it than the creamy, and demand is high. So he orders and stocks his shelves accordingly.
Would I care if there were porno apps in the App Store? Not really, but I don’t have kids with iOS devices either. My buddy next door might be pretty upset though. So, it doesn’t bother me if the App Store doesn’t stock porno apps. I respect that this is a good thing for my neighbor. I try to think beyond just my own needs, and about the community around me.
Well, this plain sucks. How is violence and gore better than nudity? I really wish Apple would relax their rules, which are tailored to American taste anyway (eg fear of nudity)
Naked people, especially women (IMHO), are not porn. Porn is about actions and relationships, many aspects of which can take place by fully clothed people without involving any genitalia. Consider out Congress, if you need an example.
While I don’t have any problem with Apple deciding what they will and won’t sell through the app store, they will never have the “textbook of the future” as long as they alone decide what ideas will be explored. It’s a short, slippery slope from the oh, so tasteful Apple app store to the Texas Schoolbook Commission.
@KSH
Nudity isn’t porn.
I agree with the earlier comment. c.f.
This type of thing is not porn or morally corrupting in any way and Apple should allow it and disallow porn.
Create rate the apps for content and let the parent control what the children see.
And Apple, if you have a problem with charging people for these apps, insist all apps of this type are free or the money is donated to charity.
The Danes also want everybody to eat pickled herring. So?