Apple have again inflamed the App Store censorship debate, by rejecting an ebook reader application through which it was possible to search for - and view - classic text The Kama Sutra.  The app, Eucalyptus, shows text-only versions of out-of-copyright books from the Project Gutenberg archive.

The App Store reviewer, finding that The Kama Sutra was accessible, then rejected the software under Apple's "inappropriate sexual content" clause of the iPhone SDK agreement.  However the same text is viewable online, through the iPhone's Safari browser, as a downloadable ebook through Amazon's Kindle app for iPhone, and bought as an audio book through iTunes.

"Thank you for submitting Eucalyptus — classic books, to go. to the App Store. We’ve reviewed Eucalyptus — classic books, to go. and determined that we cannot post this version of your iPhone application to the App Store because it contains inappropriate sexual content and is in violation of Section 3.3.12 from the iPhone SDK Agreement which states:

"Applications must not contain any obscene, pornographic, offensive or defamatory content or materials of any kind (text, graphics, images, photographs, etc.), or other content or materials that in Apple’s reasonable judgement may be found objectionable by iPhone or iPod touch users."" Apple rejection letter

Eucalyptus' author has now resubmitted the app, with a block on viewing The Kama Sutra.  Apple's parental controls make make the app submission and approval process more straightforward, but the seemingly mixed messages their software reviewers are delivering will be harder to navigate.

[via Boing Boing]