Opinion: Apple censors WikiLeaks – It only takes one bad Apple

Apple’s recent removal of a WikiLeaks application from its itunes App Store could lead to a product boycott.It was hard enough getting through the holiday season already.With Master Card, Visa, PayPal and Amazon.com, all ending their relationships with WikiLeaks, it has become almost impossible for someone who cares about free speech, press freedoms as well as government and corporate accountability to function in society, never mind shopping for Hanukkah and Christmas presents.But at least Apple wouldn’t let me down; or so I thought.
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2010/12/2010122283133209261.htmlAlso see:Apple approves then pulls unofficial Wikileaks app
On December 20, Apple removed an unofficial Wikileaks app from the App Store. Apple had approved the app, which simply showed the Wikileaks twitter feed and website, three days earlier. Considering Apple’s uptight attitude toward iPhone and iPad apps, it is perhaps more surprising that an app providing access to the controversial site’s content was approved in the first place than that it was quickly yanked from the store.Although there was initially speculation that Apple pulled the Wikileaks app because it either was “not very useful” or was a paid app that solicited charitable donations and therefore contravened the Developer Guidelines (pdf), Apple later justified the app’s removal under other provisions of the Guidelines: “Apps must comply with all local laws and may not put an individual or group in harm’s way.” The app’s developer had promised to donate one dollar from each $1.99 sale to Wikileaks, giving people a way to support the organization after Paypal, Visa, and MasterCard stopped facilitating donations to the non-profit because of its questionable activities. Apple’s reluctance to serve as a conduit of funds for Wikileaks, no matter how nominal each individual donation, is a possible secondary motivation for removal. The app raised $4443 for Wikileaks while it was available in the App Store.
http://futureoftheinternet.org/apple-approves-then-pulls-unofficial-wikileaks-app