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We reported last week on Apple's booting of several sexually suggestive apps after Business Insider identified them in a roundup -- a move that has left many developers irate.

In an interview with the New York Times, however, Apple's head of worldwide marketing Philip W. Schiller claimed that the company's rationale for banning said apps was due to "an increasing number of apps containing very objectionable content," along with complaints from concerned parents and "women who found the content getting too degrading."

But the move has left some developers scrambling; Fred Clarke, for instance, has seen all 50 of his company's racy apps deleted from the App Store. Clarke told the Times, "It's very hard to go from making a good living to zero... This goes farther than sexy content. For developers, how do you know you aren't going to invest thousands into a business only to find out one day you've been cut off?"

And while Apple continues to claim that it's looking out for the best interest of unsupervised children and ladies with the vapors, the App Store's content standards remain unclear. Playboy and Sports Illustrated (the latter of which offers access to its swimsuit issue) still have available apps. In defense of the S.I. app, Schiller told the Times, "This is a well-known company with previously published material available broadly in a well-accepted format."

Does that mean, essentially, that Apple bends the rules only for developers that have a media conglomerate like Time Warner behind them? While it seems at first glance that Apple is merely protecting its brand, how can it draw the line between one scantily clad woman and another? We suspect there are motives other than decency afoot, and that this will not be the last incidence of Apple catering to more moneyed interests. We'll see, as Sex-appgate continues to play out.

Source: NYTimes