Apple Censors NIN iPhone App; Trent Reznor Gets Salty
Posted 05/05/09 at 05:03:20 PM by Andy Salisbury
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And for good reason, too! Mr. Reznor has admittedly done a lot for the digital music landscape, and while he does support Apple, he’s got a rather large bone to pick with their app approval process (the very same process that approved the baby shaking game).
In a nutshell, Apple rejected an update to the official Nine Inch Nails iPhone app due to “objectionable content.” Oddly, said content isn’t actually a part of the app, instead it’s a song that the application can stream called “The Downward Spiral.” And, while the hypocrisy of this situation runs wild in my mind, it’s best described by Trent… after the break (there might be little eyes watching, so be warned of language).
“...I'll voice the same issue I had with Wal-Mart years ago, which is a matter of consistency and hypocrisy. Wal-Mart went on a rampage years ago insisting all music they carry be censored of all profanity and "clean" versions be made for them to carry. Bands (including Nirvana) tripped over themselves editing out words, changing album art, etc to meet Wal-Mart's standards of decency - because Wal-Mart sells a lot of records. NIN refused, and you'll notice a pretty empty NIN section at any Wal-Mart. My reasoning was this: I can understand if you want the moral posturing of not having any "indecent" material for sale - but you could literally turn around 180 degrees from where the NIN record would be and purchase the film ‘Scarface’ completely uncensored, or buy a copy of Grand Theft Auto where you can be rewarded for beating up prostitutes. How does that make sense? You can buy The Downward Fucking Spiral on iTunes, but you can't allow an iPhone app that may have a song with a bad word somewhere in it. Geez, what if someone in the forum in our app says FUCK or CUNT? I suppose that also falls into indecent material. Hey Apple, I just got some SPAM about fucking hot asian teens THROUGH YOUR MAIL PROGRAM. I just saw two guys having explicit anal sex right there in Safari! On my iPhone!
Come on Apple, think your policies through and for fuck's sake get your app approval scenario together.”
Image Credit: UpVenue.com
thanx
Submitted by seo (not verified) on Sat, 05/30/2009 - 5:07am
Bands (including Nirvana) tripped over themselves editing out words,
changing album art, etc to meet Wal-Mart's standards of decency -
because Wal-Mart sells a lot of records. NIN refused, and you'll notice
a pretty empty NIN section at any Wal-Mart. My reasoning was this: I
can understand if you want the moral posturing of not having any
"indecent" material for sale
pire | fare | güve | akrep | çiyan | seo | kene | ilaçlama
Submitted by favrerulz on Wed, 05/06/2009 - 5:39pm
Maybe Apple should change thier name to Starf*ckers, Inc.
DEMONSTRATION Scroll down to
Submitted by headkase on Wed, 05/06/2009 - 8:20am
DEMONSTRATION
Scroll down to the video demo: HERE. This app has just so many fricken' cool features about it! It is the most innovative piece of work I've seen in a long long time.
Submitted by Radiogrrl on Wed, 05/06/2009 - 8:00am
This kind of faux content cleansing is exactly why there will be a significant increase in the number of hackers figuring out ways to break through I-Phone security and run privately-created apps. And it's why when that does happen a significant percentage of I-Phone users will flock to those apps.
Basically what Apple is doing here is giving users who want adult content on their mobile devices yet another reason to go out of their way to avoid going through Apple for it.
Sony said the PSP was unhackable. They learned. Apple will too. If you don't give your users what they want, they'll find a way to get it despite your wishes and despite whatever security you might have to prevent it.
Submitted by r3dd4wg on Wed, 05/06/2009 - 5:38am
Apple (the nanny computer company) needs to go all the way with their censorship or stop it altogether. As for Trent, pull your app off Apples app store and port it to a platform that has freedom. iPhone isn't the only platform out there.
Submitted by MvanA on Wed, 05/06/2009 - 4:37am
I'm a PC and I'm allowed to say FUCK if I want to!
Without tooting the horn too
Submitted by TheMurph on Tue, 05/05/2009 - 10:23pm
Without tooting the horn too much, I'd like to wager that I'm probably one of the bigger nin fans of the MPC crowd. That said, while I understand Trent's point, I don't think it's hypocritical to what Apple has in place. The music store is an entirely different beast than the application store -- the former comes with explicit tags and allows content to be restricted if necessary. The latter has been set up as an explicit-free zone.
While we can debate the merits of jiggling boobs and iFart applications all day long, the truth of the matter is that Apple doesn't think that streamed content akin to the likes of the lyrics in Closer (or Big Man With A Gun, mind you) is acceptable for the App Store. Trent, upset as he is, makes some rather unintelligent points -- using Apple's browser to download naughty things or getting naughty spam on one's email client are completely different usage scenarios than the Apple store. I don't really need to spell this out, or at least, I hope I don't have to.
Anyway, I understand his frustration. As a fan, I'm frustrated too. But that's the stance Apple has chosen for the App store, and if you want in the store, you have to play by their rules -- strange as they may see, given some of the applications Apple lets through the gateway. That said, I don't think a peeing monkey is quite as risque as some of what you might find in TDS.
Trent is getting screwed by the computer people he supports
Submitted by Obsidian on Tue, 05/05/2009 - 7:33pm
What makes this worse in my mind is that Trent has gone to great lengths to make many of his music mixes available to people using Mac software and hardware. He makes no secret that he uses Mac systems when making much of his industrial sounding tunes. Then they slap him in the face with this, it seems even more hypocritical due to that.
Apple really needs to get their heads out of their posteriors on this one. If you're going to sell the music then you have to sell the application. I'm an apple, and I'm a hypocrite, I guess that shouldn't really surprise any of us PC people.
Submitted by ResidentArse on Tue, 05/05/2009 - 5:06pm
I totally agree with the coments that Trent had. I often think that Apple is stuck up. What successful company has no backup plan for when the CEO leaves? As much as Jobs has cultivated thinking outside of the box, which I admire, this is just rediculous. "Hold everything, except songs that have swears in them."
Good, take it to those pig-nosed stuck up grass eating a-holes
Submitted by Stry8993 on Tue, 05/05/2009 - 4:55pm
"Hi, I'm an iPhone App. Hi, I'm Apple, now f'ck off, !objectionable material!. Now I'm gun get me some shakin baby syndrome!!! Little Tod! Come on down here retard, we gots some shakin to do, don't fergit ma iphone!"
Trent has a point
Submitted by GreenTurtle on Tue, 05/05/2009 - 3:57pm
So true. He says it so well too.
I've been a longtime fan of
Submitted by dankers on Tue, 05/05/2009 - 3:40pm
I've been a longtime fan of NIN and I feel bad for Trent. Just one more reason to hate Apple I guess.
Submitted by AndyYankee17 on Tue, 05/05/2009 - 3:32pm
well, I am extremely happy to see that the pc in maxPC does not stand for political correctness.
Submitted by N25PHILLY on Tue, 05/05/2009 - 2:12pm
forgot to give Jobs and bj and ask please. That is still how you get the Apple blessing, right?
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