Last night I wrote the following piece for Techdirt:

Someone has created a simple iPhone application called “I Am Rich” which sells for $999.99 and simply makes the screen grow ruby red and offers “a secret mantra.” But more shocking than this apparent waste of bytes and money is a number of prominent blogs which are calling for Apple to block the application. This is ludicrous. If someone wants to part with a grand for a glowing screen, who is Apple to stop them? The application developer is honest and clearly states that there “is no hidden function.” It is not malicious, pornographic, a bandwidth hog, illegal or a threat to privacy.

And do these pro-regulation bloggers really want to have Apple assume the role of a Soviet ministry – designating appropriate prices for applications? Should Steve Jobs and company really determine the price of Super Monkey Ball? One commenter suggests that this application is an “insult to all the well-meaning developers that Apple made wait/are still waiting to get into the iPhone developer program.” The problem of slow approval is not a single application, but the way in which Apple is playing gatekeeper to the iPhone. Again, these complaints are asking Apple to decide which applications should receive priority review and approval – a slippery slope which places arbitrary values on applications. And by advocating that Apple makes the iPhone a more closed system, these opponents of the “I Am Rich” application may in fact be pushing Apple away from a business model that succeeds – openness.

Now, it seems the “I Am Rich” application has disappeared from the App Store. It isn’t clear if the developer removed it or Apple did, but the scenario points to a worrying trend. If Apple pulled it, they are becoming the intermediaries of Soviety style that Zittrain fears. If the developer removed the application due to the pressure of the protesting bloggers, I think it’s even more scary – a new mob of haughty, paternalistic bloggers are interfering with the market. No one stopped pet rocks, why “I Am Rich”?

Update: Apple has now pulled the application even though there was consumer interest in it.