According to Althouse, Apple rejected an iPhone application called “BobbleRep.” BobbleRep was a directory of Members of Congress illustrated by bobbleheaded caricatures – or, as Apple called then, “content that ridicules public figures.”
The app itself sounds pretty useful – you can find out who your representatives are based on your GPS coordinates. It provides contact information so you can call their offices. The caricatures make it fun to look at, but the actual operation is potentially very useful.
For Apple, though, these are dangerous waters.
Aside from the silliness of rejecting an app because of political cartoons, it adds another high-profile app rejection. The countdown to the inevitable anti-trust lawsuit has already started. And Google just reported that it spent $1 million on lobbying in the third quarter of 2009 alone.
Not to mention that when it comes Members of Congress being ridiculed and embarrassed, caricatures are the least of their problems.
Jim Eltringham 
One thought on “Is there a “settle out of court” app?”