Blackberry, Apple ban DUI apps. Google doesn't flinch
In an update of its App Store review guidelines Wednesday, the Cupertino, Calif., tech giant explicitly banned apps that warn drivers of DUI checkpoints not disclosed publicly by police.
"Apps which contain DUI checkpoints that are not published by law enforcement agencies, or encourage and enable drunk driving, will be rejected," the new guidelines now read, according to MacRumors.
The revision comes a few months after four U.S. senators -- Harry Reid of Nevada, Tom Udall of New Mexico, Charles Schumer of New York and Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey -- sent letters to Apple and rivals Google and Research in Motion asking them to stop selling apps that help drivers pinpoint police drunk driving checkpoints.
"We know that your companies share our desire to end the scourge of drunk driving, and we therefore would ask you to remove these applications from your store unless they are altered to remove the DUI/DWI checkpoint functionality," the letter said.
Blackberry-maker Research in Motion pulled the apps soon after. Google, maker of the Android operating system for smartphones and tablet computers, did not.
"Apps which contain DUI checkpoints that are not published by law enforcement agencies, or encourage and enable drunk driving, will be rejected," the new guidelines now read, according to MacRumors.
The revision comes a few months after four U.S. senators -- Harry Reid of Nevada, Tom Udall of New Mexico, Charles Schumer of New York and Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey -- sent letters to Apple and rivals Google and Research in Motion asking them to stop selling apps that help drivers pinpoint police drunk driving checkpoints.
"We know that your companies share our desire to end the scourge of drunk driving, and we therefore would ask you to remove these applications from your store unless they are altered to remove the DUI/DWI checkpoint functionality," the letter said.
Blackberry-maker Research in Motion pulled the apps soon after. Google, maker of the Android operating system for smartphones and tablet computers, did not.
