J*******k: Dirty word disappears from Apple iTunes store
- 18 May, 2012 05:31
- Comments
Apple historically has fought iPhone jailbreaking by warning customers that their device warranties will be voided if they muck around with the innards of their Apple products. Now Apple appears to be taking its disapproval of jailbreaking one step further by censoring at least some references to "jailbreak" in its U.S. iTunes store.
The Shoutpedia website first picked up on the Apple action, citing a Tweet from iOS hacker "planetbeing." Shoutpedia writes that it's unclear whether the censoring of "jailbreak" is intentional, though the Cult of Mac blog says that Apple has actually been censoring the term for a months though has only recently begun uncensoring it.
Songs such as Thin Lizzy's "Jailbreak" are now listed in some places as "J*******k", although we found unfiltered references as well. Even an episode of The Roy Rogers Show is listed as "J********k". A game called Jailbreaker from Triniti Interactive popped up uncensored, though.
Still, the filtering of some "jailbreak" titles puts the word into the same category as "b******t" and other swear words in Apple's eyes.
The U.S. government in 2010 ruled that jailbreaking iPhones and other such devices was legal as long as it wasn't being done to get around copy protections, but Apple has continued to oppose it, arguing that jailbreaking makes its products unstable and can introduce security problems.
The jailbreaking of Apple devices and software is a never-ending cat-and-mouse game, with hackers opening up devices such as the new iPad almost as soon as they are rolled out.
Bob Brown tracks network research in his Alpha Doggs blog and Facebook page, as well on Twitter and Google +.
Read more about anti-malware in Network World's Anti-malware section.
- Bookmark this page
- Share this article
- Got more on this story? Email ARN
- Follow ARN on twitter
- The iPhone Quiz
- Apple is Filtering “Jailbreak” Term in the US iTunes Store
- Apple Backtracks And Starts Uncensoring The Word “Jailbreak” In iTunes : Cult of Mac
- Security Research Center - Network World
- Soon after release, latest iPad model is jailbroken
- 6 sets of useful Apple iPad resources
- Anti-malware Research Center - Network World
- New Gateway Anti-Malware Technology Sets the Bar for Web Threat Protection (Sponsored by McAfee)
- Smart Cloud Provisioning: Low Cost and highly Scalable Entry Point into Cloud Computing
- Modernizing Security for the Small and Mid-Sized Business – Recommendations for 2013 (Sponsored by McAfee)
- Cloud and Co-Location Solutions
- MSP Guides for effective Endpoint Management Solutions
-
Growing mobile malware threat swirls (mostly) around Android
-
Barracuda Networks raises free capacity of Copy.com to 15GB
-
Coke gives peace a chance ( +16 photos)
-
ASI brings LapCabby to Australia
-
Telstra restructure a correct step: Paul Budde
Get exclusive access to ARN's news, research and invitation only events. 
