The irony to all this is that just a week before, the makers of "Pull My Finger" sued iFart creator Joel Comm for using their (supposedly) trademarked name in a YouTube promotion. In a legal brief filed for the defense, a lawyer explained:
The phrase "pull my finger," and derivations thereof, are generally known and widely understood in American society to be a joke or prank regarding flatulence. The prank begins when the prankster senses the deep stirrings of flatulence. The prankster then requests that an unsuspecting person pull [his or her] finger. The prankster extends his index finger to the victim. As the victim pulls the prankster's finger, his flatulence erupts so as to suggest a causal relationship between the pulling of the finger and the subsequent expulsion of gas. In other words, the phrase "pull my finger" is understood to be a description of the act of passing gas.The stakes are high. iFart pulls in some $10,000 every day. Meanwhile, more that 50 competing flatulence applications have appeared in the iPhone store.
So what was Apple's decision? The company refused to let the creators of South Park (think Terrance and Phillip!) post their app to the store. The content was basically that of the show, which runs on Comedy Central. Worse, it had already been developed and announced as ready.
We first announced our iPhone App back in October, after we submitted the Application to Apple for approval. After a couple of attempts to get the application approved, we are sad to say that our app has been rejected. According to Apple, the content was "potentially offensive." But Apple did admit that the standards would evolve, citing that when iTunes first launched it didn't sell any music with explicit lyrics. At this point, we are sad to say, the app is dead in the water. Sorry, South Park fans.What will it mean if every iPhone idea has to first be cleared by Apple? A silly example, sure, but a very real threat to innovation.
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