[governance] Apple Drones App Banned: Politicians And Campaigners Step Up Fight

[Riaz K Tayob]

  Apple Drones App Banned: Politicians And Campaigners Step Up Fight

*The Huffington Post UK*  |  By Jessica Elgot 
<http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/jessica-elgot> Posted: 04/12/2012 12:00 
GMT Updated: 04/12/2012 12:41 GMT

Politicians and activists are continuing to put pressure on Apple to 
publish a controversial app which monitors drone strike locations - 
after the company blocked it.

The app is also the subject of a growing US petition, launched last week 
on Roots Action 
<http://act.rootsaction.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=6750>, 
calling on company to reconsider.

The App Store rejected the product, calling it "objectionable and crude".

Roots Action, which is run by the left-leaning Action for a Progressive 
Future, launched a petition last week asking Apple to reconsider.

drone

*American citizens rally in Islamabad, Pakistan against drone attacks in 
the tribal belt*


The campaigners said in a statement attached to the petition: "Drone 
wars continue because the US public is unaware what is being done in our 
name with our money. We are interested in knowing where our government 
is using drones and has killed people, not in celebrating that killing.

The people in Pakistan and Afghanistan and elsewhere living under the 
drones can't ignore what's being done to them. Neither should we, as 
it's done with our money and in our names.

"Drones+ is an application that shows no depictions of the carnage of 
war and reveals no secret information. It simply adds a location to a 
map every time a drone strike is reported in the media and added to a 
database maintained by the UK's Bureau of Investigative Journalism."

Hilary Stauffer, Deputy Director of Reprieve's drones team, told The 
Huffington Post UK: "The CIA's drone programme is terrorising civilian 
communities across North West Pakistan.

"All the drones+ app seeks to do is pull together publicly-available 
information to keep its users informed about when and where these 
strikes are taking place.

"Banning this app is therefore inexplicable, and smacks of censorship.

"Given that one of Apple's most famous adverts warned against an 
Orwellian future, it is deeply ironic that their actions are now halting 
the spread of information about the CIA's secret war."

Josh Begley, a graduate student at New York University, developed the 
app, called Drones+, to show the location of strikes, using reports 
collated by the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

He insisted there are no national security issues in showing the date.

Apple company received around £4.5m in Pentagon contracts last year, 
according to Action for a Progressive Future, the left-wing group 
running to campaign to instate the app.

The cause has been taken up by one of the House of Representatives most 
outspoken critics 
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/13/dennis-kucinich-apple-drone-app_n_2124230.html> 
of President Obama's drone police, Ohio Democrat Dennis Kucinich.

Kucinich told US politics site The Hill 
<http://thehill.com/blogs/global-affairs/terrorism/267525-kucinich-champions-drone-strike-app-blocked-by-apple>: 
"What is 'objectionable and crude' are the drone strikes themselves.

"I strongly support any effort to bring increased transparency to our 
combat drone program. This program continues to operate without 
transparency and accountability."

The rejection of the app is all the more controversial because of the 
other apps Apple allows to appear on its site, like the UAV Fighter app 
for iPhone. <https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/uav-fighter/id317680035?mt=8>

TransLumen Technologies, a military defence contractor, and Entertaining 
Games have built an app, which allows you to play at piloting a drone, 
"the Grim Reaper Predator, Raven, and Proteus Prototype."

It's described on the site as "you haven't lived until you have launched 
a perfect volley of 4 laser guided air-to-surface missiles, 4 shots - 4 
kills, while using ECM to deflect incoming surface-to-air missiles, and 
dodging incoming tank shells and air-to-air nose-cannon fire!

"Everyone will notice the look of evil glee that comes across your face 
as you unleash the terrifying power of the Plasma Laser equipped Proteus 
Prototype! No wonder our enemies want us to kill work on this recently 
declassified weapon!"

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