Google To Developers: Don't Build Porn Apps For Our Chromecast TV Device
Today, the sharp eyes of Hot Hardware's Paul Lilly noticed a very strong caveat: Google has banned porn apps, along with a long list of other morally dubious things, from Chromecast.
Or, to be more precise, Google wants the people who write apps for Chromecast to also obey the rules governing its app store, Google Play. And Google Play clearly forbids porn. It says:
We don't allow content that contains nudity, graphic sex acts, or sexually explicit material.
Google Play also bans things like gambling, hate speech, depictions of violence and illegal activities, all of which applies to Chromecast apps, too.
If a developer ignores the rules and writes an app with forbidden content, Google reserves the right to cut off the developer's access to Google's tech needed to run the app.
We've seen this before. Google banned porn apps from Glass, too, and when the first porn app was released for it anyway last summer, Google said it would block the app from working on Glass.
None of this will stop human beings from doing what human beings like to do with technologies like Chromecast or Glass. As we previously reported, after Google banned facial recognition technology from Glass, a young developer, Stephen Balaban, started building an alternative operating system for Google Glass that Google couldn't control, he told Business Insider.
So, if Chromecast proves popular enough with consumers, we're sure some smart developer will figure out how to sidestep Google's restrictions for this device, too.
But, just so you know, Google isn't messing around and wants its first crop of Chromecast apps to be clean and family friendly.