App Store Refuses Defamatory Political App

The Apple's App Store has refused an app that it deems defamatory (a violation of the rules). It's a political app that attacks an opponent in a Congressional race in California according to CNet news.

The first question that springs to mind is that is this a very clever way to gain much more publicity than the app itself would generate? (Remember all those commercials that air once -- once! -- on a cable station in Washington DC for the purpose of reaching one or more reporters who then report on them and start a nice wave of publicity all for the cost of a single ad.)

Next comes the question of whether or not the App Store should be open to everyone. It's not a publicly licensed broadcast medium, so it seems not. And in view of the fact that anyone can create an iPhone Web app using Dashcode and deploy it without the App Store, this seems to reinforce the notion that it's a PR stunt. (Note that the candidate involved is identified in the CNet article linked here, but we're not getting on the PR bandwagon.)

This is one of the reasons why iPhone Web applications built with Dashcode are such an important part of the app environment. (Shameless plug: See Chapter 2 of Get Rich with Apps! for details on the technology. It's not a backdoor trick; it's promoted, documented, and supported by Apple.)