Comic-book author Infurious is furious over Apple's decision to ban their latest release, Murderdrome. Cited for violations to Apple's SDK agreement pertaining to offensive and violent material, the graphic novel won't be gracing iPhone screens via the App Store any time soon.
The company has published the first issue of Murderdrome on their site for free. And inquiring minds (okay, just me) have to consider if the comic is getting just a little more exposure than it otherwise might have if Murderdrome has passed through the App Store's pearly gates unabated.
Regardless, the main issue still stands. Apple has established themselves as the absolute judge & jury, editor & publisher, of the App Store. They have pulled and delisted apps over subjective reasoning and self-admitted "judgment calls," but their latest foray into banning artistic media and content in the form of self-expression? Well, there may be a better system to handle such matters...
The publisher's of Murderdrome call for Apple to implement a rating system to monitor such content, ensuring it gets to the people who want it and not to the ones that don't.
Blogger Mike Cain notes the hypocrisy of Apple's decision in relation to other content currently available through the iTunes store -- check his post "Apple Forfeits eBooks By Banning A Comic Book!", for an interesting, albeit lengthy, argument.
Infurious promises to focus on and release more "Apple friendly" titles in the future.
