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Apple's iTunes Store filters 'jailbreak' search term

A review of App Store Guidelines doesn't explain why the titles of songs, apps, TV shows, and even podcasts have been asterisked out.

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Steven_Musil2.jpg
Steven Musil Night Editor / News
Steven Musil is the night news editor at CNET News. He's been hooked on tech since learning BASIC in the late '70s. When not cleaning up after his daughter and son, Steven can be found pedaling around the San Francisco Bay Area. Before joining CNET in 2000, Steven spent 10 years at various Bay Area newspapers.
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A screenshot of a search for "jailbreak" on Apple's iTunes Store. Screenshot by Steven Musil/CNET

It's no secret that Apple is not a fan of jailbreaking of its iPhones, but that distaste appears to be extending to the iTunes Store as well.

A search for the term "jailbreak" in the store yields dozens of instances where the titles of songs, apps, TV shows, and even podcasts have been asterisked out. While Apple believes the act of jailbreaking, or bypassing the restriction Apple places on standard iPhones that only allows the installation of applications only from approved sources, is a copyright violation. iBookstore is also affected.

A review of the App Store guidelines does not turn up any indication that this word is forbidden in titles. The seven-page App Store Guidelines has a section regarding metadata (which Apple specifies as app names and descriptions), however it only mentions that apps with descriptions that are "not relevant to the application content and functionality" getting rejected outright.

CNET has contacted Apple for comment on the matter, and we will update this report when we learn more.

The situation was first pointed out on Twitter by user "MuscleNerd," a self-described iPhone hacker:

[Via Shoutpedia]