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Is Apple kicking eBooks off the iPhone?
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Following the rejection of Google Voice, which brought the FCC into the picture, Apple is doing a bit of house cleaning in the iPhone app store. This house cleaning includes a rejection of all eBooks to the iPhone app store under the pretense that eBooks can infringe upon third-party rights.
What next? Will the reject Safari because it can infringe upon third-party rights?
The eBook move is rather bizarre. In addition to rejecting eBook applications, Apple is also rejecting eBook readers. They haven't gone as far as to ban popular eBook readers like Stanza, Kindle or the new Barnes and Noble reader, but if Apple is really cleaning house on eBooks and eBook readers, these apps might just stick out like a sore thumb.
The news also comes as rumors of iTunes possibly selling eBooks as early as this year are circulating, which could mean that the rejections are laying the groundwork for the whole "do not compete with core functions of the iPhone" routine.
Apple has certainly been busy recently. In addition to rejection eBook applications, they cleaned house on one of their most prolific developers in order to reduce the amount of 'spam' applications (apps that don't really do anything). They also got into the censoring business when they asked a dictionary to remove 'objectionable' words like the relatively harmless 'ass'. (Next up: Apple asks all dictionaries to remove the word 'donkey'.)
One thing is clear: Apple isn't scared of the FCC breathing down their neck. Heck, they might just be thumbing their noses at the government.
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