Apple Bans forChan Developer – Did Not Realize Web Browsers Can Access Porn

Remember Charles Rodriguez? He’s the dude we wrote about last week … the 26-year-old President of iHustleApps and the developer of the infamous forChan app. forChan is a web browser specifically designed for imageboards such as Futaba Channel, 4chan, 420chan, The Wired and others. With its start-up page set to an imageboard displaying dogs, it took Apple less than 12 hours to approve and publish forChan.

forChan1  forChan-Dog

And just as quick … Apple banned forChan after four days of existence. Why? = Porn. Just like any web browser, the end user is able to access pornography through forChan. It’s important to note that forChan is not a porn app … there is no code or Easter Egg within the app that enables porn. Rather forChan can be used to view porn (or other images like dogs  or whatever) … it’s up to the end user to enter the desired imageboard URL. Hmmm … does this sound familiar? Gizmodo thinks so … calling for the ban of Safari and Bing on the iPhone, since they are web browsers just like forChan.

forChan-Uncensored-FINAL

Well things go from bad to worse. Yesterday … nine days after forChan was banned … Apple revoked Charles’ developer license and removed all of his 224 remaining apps from the App Store. Charles has been completely banned from developing iPhone apps.

forChan-Banned We contacted Charles to inquire exactly what was Apple’s reasoning for completely booting him out of the iPhone Developer Program (iDP) … Charles said, “Via email, Apple indicated that I violated Section 6.1 of the iDP Agreement by hiding the nature of the forChan app from when it was originally submitted for review. I set forChan’s launch page to an imageboard containing dogs. Apple stated that it was only later they discovered that forChan can be used by end users to access pornographic content, which is not permitted under the iDP Agreement.” “Per the iDP agreement,” Charles continued, “Apple has the right to terminate my license for dishonest and fraudulent acts, including trying to hide application functionality from Apple’s review.”

Whoa, whoa, whoa … slow down sparky! Did you say Apple did not realize that a web browser can access porn? “It’s confusing to me as well, but that’s what Apple stated in the Notice Of Termination email they sent me,” Charles said. “I attempted to call Apple for further clarification,” Charles continues, “but they stated that all correspondence regarding this matter can only be in email format.”

It should be obvious that forChan could access porn … even its description states, “forChan is a web browser app … any content including UNCENSORED pics can be accessed.” Now Charles did jump on the porn imageboard bandwagon and created his own adult site … however this information was not publicized within the app or its description (unlike the SuicideGirls application where its URL is displayed in the description and the app).

forChan-Complete-Title

So maybe Gizmodo is right … ban Safari and Bing. And while you’re at it, revoke Apple’s and Microsoft’s developers license. Or how about the hundreds or third-party web browsers … we all know why they include Private Web Browsing as a feature. Hell, there’s even an iPrOn Private Browser app … pron (or pr0n) is porn, deliberately misspelled.

ipron-title

And why do imageboard browsers still remain in the App Store? The iImageboard app is identical to forChan … enter a URL and you are connected to its content, porn included. Anonyma is another one … and even easier access to porn by simply entering one letter as the URL … type in S and a “Sexy Women” pornography imageboard is revealed.

Anonyma-Title

Anonyma-1  Anonyma-2

A final question remains … will Apple forward Charles’ portion of revenues from his apps sold in December and the first 20 days of January? “I certainly hope so as I rely on iPhone development to support my mother and kid sister. Our rent is literally due in ten days,” said Charles. Hmmm, I don’t know bro … we’re thinking you might get that famous six-word Jobs response … “Not That Big Of A Deal”.

January 21, 2010 | Filed Under News, Utilities 

Comments

  • Awesome! make me a firefox browser for iphone and then make me some porn…..LOl

  • Come on guys, get your facts straight. This is not the same as a browser nor was forChan the same as these other imageboard apps. If the other imageboard apps, or browsers, came with built-in links to porn sites, or a two click way of forcing porn on you, then those apps would be rejected as well.

    Additionally, once you made the mistake of choosing one of his porn boards, there was no way to go back to non-porn; at least not through the website.

  • forChan did NOT include any built-in links to porn sites … just like any
    web or imageboard browser app, the user must enter the URL for access …
    porn links within forChan? – no way.

    And if you did enter a wrong URL in forChan … simply go back to the “Store
    URL” section of the app, edit the URL and you'll be off to viewing dogs in
    no time.

  • Mike

    Um, I don't know about that… the list of porn imageboard url's and some of the actual content was hosted on HIS server – clearly intended to be used with this app.

    It doesn't help that he bragged about it to Gizmodo either, saying “it is technically the first app with nudity”.
    http://gizmodo.com/5445065/apple-approves-porn-…

    He was marketing it as a porn app and bragging about how he got away with it. The articles here on Krapps and Gizmodo didn't really help either, lol.

    Believe me, I personally have no problem with his app or anything like it. I also think Apple's policies are a bit ridiculous and as a dev, have had to deal with them myself. But when you go around bragging all over the web about how you just tricked Apple into approving “the first app with nudity”…. well, if I was Apple, I'd be pissed off too.

    This guy kind of screwed himself… if he had kept his mouth shut, his app would still be in the App Store now… but an app with photos of dogs probably wouldn't sell too well, right? LOL

    BTW, Krapps is awesome, I'm a big fan! 🙂

  • RogyDonkey

    What are you talking about?

    forChan is the only app that FLAUNTS its disrespect for the App Store guidelines. All the other apps have the benefit of plausible deniability. forChan went too far and openly disclosed its intended use.

    Get your facts straight.

  • RogyDonkey

    What are you talking about?

    forChan is the only app that FLAUNTS its disrespect for the App Store guidelines. All the other apps have the benefit of plausible deniability. forChan went too far and openly disclosed its intended use.

    Get your facts straight.

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