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Apr 12, 2001
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trapster.jpg



Apple has added verbiage to the App Store Review Guidelines banning DUI checkpoint apps. Presumably, the changed guidelines are in response to letters from four Democratic U.S. senators sent to Apple earlier this year. The letters requested Apple remove apps that provide "a database of DUI [driving under the influence] checkpoints updated in real-time". The Senators considered the checkpoint apps "a matter of public concern."

Section 22.8 of the updated App Store Review Guidelines reads:
Apps which contain DUI checkpoints that are not published by law enforcement agencies, or encourage and enable drunk driving, will be rejected.
Some law enforcement agencies publish where DUI checkpoints will be located ahead of time, and these notices have been exempted from the ban.

As we noted when the senators sent their letter, many of the apps in question also offer information on speed traps, red light and speed cameras, accidents, and other traffic conditions, several of which have also been considered controversial. However, the new Guidelines only mention DUI checkpoints.

Article Link: Apple Bans DUI Checkpoint Apps
 

ratzzo

macrumors 6502a
Apr 20, 2011
829
35
Madrid
Everyone has to be politically correct nowadays. At the end of the day though, this app will simply appear through Cydia. Does this really promote drunk driving? :/
 

chrmjenkins

macrumors 603
Oct 29, 2007
5,325
158
MD
This is known as a reasonable limitation.

That's debatable. Many can argue this is a limitation of free speech, but it's a closed market that Apple controls. Notice the senators did not say it's in violation of law, simply that it was concerning.
 

Darth.Titan

macrumors 68030
Oct 31, 2007
2,905
753
Austin, TX
Everyone has to be politically correct nowadays. At the end of the day though, this app will simply appear through Cydia. Does this really promote drunk driving? :/

When the user base is limited to Cydia users, the usefulness of the app drops way down.

Jailbroken iPhones represent a pretty small fraction of total iPhone owners.
 

chrono1081

macrumors G3
Jan 26, 2008
8,446
4,146
Isla Nublar
Apple is in a damned if you do damned if you don't position right here. If they don't ban the apps they anger the public and get called irresponsible, if they do ban the app people cry that its censorship.

I think they took the correct route since removing the app hurts no one except drunk drivers.
 

Starflyer

macrumors 6502a
Jan 22, 2003
695
1,069
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/534.32 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8F190 Safari/6533.18.5)

Stupid. The information that these apps had were given IN ADVANCE by the local police departments!

Why don't these Senetors spend their energy on fixing unemployment and out of control spending.
 

Daveoc64

macrumors 601
Jan 16, 2008
4,074
92
Bristol, UK
"Free Speech" has never applied on the App Store - not that it has to.

Apple is under no legal obligation in any country (not just the United States) to allow everything on the store.

If Apple thinks something is unreasonable, it has the right to ban it.
 

Starflyer

macrumors 6502a
Jan 22, 2003
695
1,069
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/534.32 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8F190 Safari/6533.18.5)

I hope they crack down on the local news outlets that publish this information also.
 

Dmac77

macrumors 68020
Jan 2, 2008
2,165
3
Michigan
I am all for free speech, but this is a reasonable limitation. If it saves a single life, it is worth it.

Maybe according to you, but to me it's absolutely demented. I personally use apps like this so I can avoid checkpoints, not because I drive drunk, but so I can break Michigan's retarded 10pm curfew for teen drivers. I'll be sure to not update Trapster in the near future. This is just another attempt by the government and their pigs to control people; shame on Apple for giving in to the government and bs political correctness.

-Don
 

something3153

macrumors 6502
May 20, 2011
404
0
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/534.32 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8F190 Safari/6533.18.5)

Stupid. The information that these apps had were given IN ADVANCE by the local police departments!

Why don't these Senetors spend their energy on fixing unemployment and out of control spending.

Note that the guidelines only prohibit listing DUI checkpoints that are NOT published by the police force. It would seem this only bans user-reported checkpoint entry...
 

ihav0frnds

macrumors 6502
Jun 6, 2010
304
6
Maybe according to you, but to me it's absolutely demented. I personally use apps like this so I can avoid checkpoints, not because I drive drunk, but so I can break Michigan's retarded 10pm curfew for teen drivers. I'll be sure to not update Trapster in the near future. This is just another attempt by the government and their pigs to control people; shame on Apple for giving in to the government and bs political correctness.

-Don

doesnt that only apply to under 12?? you wouldnt be driving anyways, i hope.
 

FriarNurgle

macrumors regular
Jan 2, 2011
233
0
Can we ban Facebook and Twitter then? I'm sure people are communicating DUI check points on there too.
 

barberio

macrumors regular
Oct 26, 2009
104
0
Maybe according to you, but to me it's absolutely demented. I personally use apps like this so I can avoid checkpoints, not because I drive drunk, but so I can break Michigan's retarded 10pm curfew for teen drivers. I'll be sure to not update Trapster in the near future. This is just another attempt by the government and their pigs to control people; shame on Apple for giving in to the government and bs political correctness.

-Don

Ah... Teens. Dumb enough to admit they want an iphone app to help them break the law, but still claim they're just as good drivers as adults.
 

chrono1081

macrumors G3
Jan 26, 2008
8,446
4,146
Isla Nublar
Note that the guidelines only prohibit listing DUI checkpoints that are NOT published by the police force. It would seem this only bans user-reported checkpoint entry...

You actually think most mac rumors users are smart enough to read the article before opening their mouths? :p
 

ChadJK

macrumors member
Mar 20, 2008
31
28
Flyover State, USA
So it becomes a web app instead...

So it just becomes a web app that you access via Safari in iOS. This policy helps Apple's public image but does little to prevent this type of app from being accessible to smartphone-carrying masses.

As mobile browsers become more and more capable there will be more apps that become web apps to avoid Apple's App Store TOS and costs.
 

Dmac77

macrumors 68020
Jan 2, 2008
2,165
3
Michigan
doesnt that only apply to under 12?? you wouldnt be driving anyways, i hope.

No it is now illegal in Michigan to drive after 10pm or with more than one passenger (unless accompanied by an adult over 21), if you are under 18 and have less than six months of driving experience.

-Don
 

trainwrecka

macrumors 6502a
Apr 24, 2007
515
709
Earth
Everyone has to be politically correct nowadays. At the end of the day though, this app will simply appear through Cydia. Does this really promote drunk driving? :/

Are you serious? Who else, but someone breaking the law, would download this app?

The "free speech" argument is completely wrong in this context. You have freedom to break the law, but there will be consequences. You have the freedom to create a handheld computer device that connects to the internet to update you about DUI stops. Apple's App Store doesn't have to submit to your "freedom".
 

ten-oak-druid

macrumors 68000
Jan 11, 2010
1,980
0
Well this is disappointing.

People not able to drive are not going to be able to remember to use such an app. This is for sober drivers wanting to get around such a check point. This would in turn concentrate the number of DUI drivers at the check point area and make it more affective.

Having this app available is not irresponsible. Posting live updates at a party full of potential drunk drivers or at a public bar would be irresponsible. But so would be letting people leave while drunk without trying to stop them or following through on a threat to call authorities if they do not listen.
 

Dmac77

macrumors 68020
Jan 2, 2008
2,165
3
Michigan
Ah... Teens. Dumb enough to admit they want an iphone app to help them break the law, but still claim they're just as good drivers as adults.

FYI, it's not breaking the law unless you get caught. At least that's how my family sees it. I'm sorry but I work until 10:00pm multiple times per week, if I followed this damn law I wouldn't ever get to go to a movie with friends, go to people's houses, etc. I don't know a single family that requires their children to follow this law, and there is a considerable movement to overturn it. This is a law that was made to get broken.

-Don
 

nutmac

macrumors 603
Mar 30, 2004
6,043
7,286
For those that do not drive drunk, all these apps need to do is NOT make a distinction between DUI checkpoint and speedtrap.

Having used apps like Trapster in the past, however, I find them to be a major battery killer and not comprehensive/up-to-date enough. I much prefer to stick with navigation app's traffic feature and stick by "drive less than 10 mph above the speed limit in highway and 5 mph for local roads" rule of thumb.
 

Mattie Num Nums

macrumors 68030
Mar 5, 2009
2,834
0
USA
You'd likely change your mind if you suffered the loss of a loved one as the result of drunk driving.

I have. This app does nothing to stop anyone from driving drunk. Check points don't cover the entire drive of a drunk, just one portion of it.
 
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