Apple goes auntie over slasher comic

Murders Murderdrome

Posted in Mobile, 26th August 2008 17:00 GMT

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Murderdrome is a comic published exclusively for the iPhone and iPod Touch, which makes its removal from iTunes something of a problem for publishers Infurious and bodes badly for their comic-rendering application.

It should come as no surprise that a product called Murderdrome has found itself removed from a channel that considers a picture of a knife to be offensive. And that's a shame, as the technology behind the title was interesting.

Murderdrome was the first title to make use of Comic Reader software, which is basically a rendering engine for comic books that offers the more-obsessed reader the option of seeing the development process, sketches, and even an audio commentary. OK, make that truly obsessed. The idea was that multiple comics would be available using the engine.

Apple has pulled the application because it breaches their SDK license, serving up content that "...in Apple's reasonable judgment may be found objectionable". The problem is that this restriction only applies to applications. Dodgy movies, episodes of South Park or even The Breakfast Club are perfectly acceptable iTunes content.

Of course, Apple can't browbeat TV or film studios into only producing wholesome family entertainment, but they can make themselves into the Comics Code Authority for the 21st century. ®

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