Apple pulls 'Baby Shaker' iPhone app after child welfare groups protest
Updated Wednesday, April 22nd 2009, 4:38 PM
YouTube.com
The most offensive iPhone app ever? 'Baby Shaker' was pulled from the virtual shelves of the iPhone app store Wednesday after protests from child welfare groups.
Apple yanked a disturbing iPhone application Wednesday called "Baby Shaker," which allowed users to silence a virtual screaming infant by shaking their phone.
The 99-cent application, created by a company called Sikalosoft, went on sale in the App Store on Monday and quickly outraged child welfare groups, who demanded an apology from Apple CEO Steve Jobs.
"Not only are they making fun of shaken baby syndrome, but they are actually encouraging it. This is absolutely terrible," said Marilyn Barr, founder of the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome.
Baby Shaker features a sketch of a cute baby that quickly dissolves into tears and cries on the iPhone screen.
Users then violently shake their phone until the child stops crying - and red X's morbidly appear over the baby's eyes.
A description of the application ends with the words, "Never, never shake a baby."
But it also sinisterly challenges users: "See how long you can endure his or her adorable cries before you just have to find a way to quiet the baby down!"
Parents of children affected by brain injuries found the game not only distasteful and offensive but downright dangerous.
"For them to make a joke of something that is the most horrifying form of child abuse is absurd," said Jennipher Dickens, whose 2-year-old son suffered brain damage after being shaken by his biological father.
Dickens, spokeswoman for the Sarah Jane Brain Foundation, said Baby Shaker is particularly dangerous because applications are often targeted toward young men - who could be new fathers.
Her association wants Jobs to apologize personally to parents of shaken baby syndrome victims and survivors.
It's unclear how the macabre game got past bigwigs at Apple, who have vowed to rigorously screen all applications sold in Apple's online store.
CNET News writer Tom Krazit points out that the company has banned applications for simply including curse words or other objectionable content, but "you are allowed to simulate infanticide."
Apple did not respond to requests for comment.
Today's Top Picks
'I was in shock', says Craigslist suspect pal
The moment Morgan Houston saw hotel surveillance pictures of the "Craigslist Killer," she recognized her old college pal, Philip Markoff.
EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS: 'Craigslist Killer's' wild college days
Philip Markoff looks like any college student. But cops say behind his boy-next-door facade was a predator in the making.
Maybe torture was helpful, says Gibbs
The White House wilted further Thursday in the flap over torturing terrorists, conceding it may have helped.
Prank gone wrong: Itching powder irritates school
Probers are trying to get to the bottom of who sprinkled itching powder on the seats at a Brooklyn elementary school.
The NFL's biggest draft blunders
Warning: The names on this list could make you wince. The News counts down the worst of the worst
Best Of NYDN.com
Four pieces of tape, one bold statement
What was Lady Gaga thinking when she stepped out in a sheer jumpsuit and the four most strategically placed pieces of tape in recent memory?
Crowe gets buff, Lohan goes skeletal
“Gladiator” star Russel Crowe turns fit, while starlet Lindsay Lohan gets dangerously thin.
Yanks-Red Sox rivalry strong as ever
Lupica: Yanks-Red Sox is looking exactly as it always has. It will feel like the real start of the season, at least in AL East.
Beauty queens? Try drama queens!
From racy photos to tumbles heard 'round the world - these beauty queens' lives aren't as picture-perfect as they seem.
The world's sexiest woman?
Who's the smiley brunette who stole the World's Sexiest Woman title from Megan Fox?
