Racy Danish Tabloid May Sue Apple For App Rejection 319
the_arrow writes "In Denmark the tabloid newspaper Ekstra Bladet usually have scantily clad ladies on page 9. When making an iPad application, Apple of course rejected it because of that. However, Ekstra Bladet is not happy with that, and many sites report that Ekstra Bladet is thinking about taking Apple to European court for 'unfair censorship and anti-competitive behaviour.'"
Re:I would like to verify the legitimacy myself (Score:5, Informative)
Re:I would like to verify the legitimacy myself (Score:5, Informative)
Shiney!
Re:Suing for what exactly? (Score:4, Informative)
>> a tabloid with 'racy' pictures that don't even pretend to have artistic value doesn't sound like a good trial case.
Ignoring your ignorant comment where you go on imposing your definition of artistic values, there still seems to be a very minor case of Hustler v Falwell - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hustler_Magazine_v._Falwell [wikipedia.org]
Re:I would like to verify the legitimacy myself (Score:5, Informative)
OMG! Titties! Fellow Americans, please avert your eyes off this European Godless smut!
Re:Sue on what grounds? (Score:4, Informative)
Now as much as I don't like Apple, I must say that Apple is free to enter and to not enter into contracts as they please.
Ah, but you are wrong about that. Fortunately. :-)
:-)
In civilized countries there are rules to govern trade and business. In the US and the EU, businesses fortunately have to follow rules set forth by society - rules designed to ensure and enforce out liberal freedoms, free trade, fair markets.
As such, Apple is NOT free to "enter and not enter into contracts as they please" because they are not allowed to discriminate other businesses, engage in unfair trade practices, discriminate ethnic minorities, etc. They also must adhere to consumer protection laws, and other national regulation.
Most people think that is a good thing. It makes the real world function even in spite of the mind-numbing consolidation and accumulation of corporate power thats been going on for the last decade.
If he doesn't like that then he can make his own phone and his own app store, or take his business to Apple's competitors, such as Android.
As other have pointed out, this case is not similar to a retailer refusing to sell a specific publication - because Apple essentially has monopoly in the App store.
:-)
Your view would only be correct if Apple allowed 3rd party Appstores on the iOS platform - which they don't. Apples business model gives them an unprecedented level of control with the distribution channel, and because of that they may (fortunately) be forced to play nice. Antitrust laws and consumer protection laws are there for a reason. This is a good example.
- Jesper