Photos by BIRON - Apple Books censorship: "inappropriate content"

From: photoservices@apple.com
Subject: Re: An Appeal To Reason Re: My Order 44696641; Follow-up: 478302
Date: May 13, 2008 11:57:39 AM PDT
To: photosbybiron@me.com, photosbybiron@me.com

Dear Lionel,

Thank you for contacting Apple Photo Services Customer Support.

My name is Kris and I am a senior support representative within Apple's print products division. I have reviewed your order in it's entirety. Unfortunately, the content of the book does not fall within our printing guidelines and we are unable to print the book. I can assure you that our guidelines are followed objectively and without regard to race or sexual orientation. (Note: It is possible that a previous order was printed with the same or similar content without being detected by our inspectors. I apologize for the confusion if this is the case.)

Apple Print Products Customer Service is not Apple's legal representative and therefore cannot respond to any discussion about potential legal action or comment on issues that may have a direct bearing on such action.

Apple's legal team is available for direct contact with an attorney or a bona fide consumer advocate representative, such as the Better Business Bureau (US and Canada), or the State Attorney General's office (US), or the Citizen's Advice Bureau (UK).

Thank you for your understanding.

Sincerely,

Kris
Apple Photo Services Customer Support
http://apple.com/support/photoservices/ww/

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Subject: An Appeal To Reason Re: My Order 44696641; Follow-up: 47830279
From: photosbybiron@me.com
Date: May 13, 2008 10:44:59 AM PDT
To: photoservices@apple.com

Dear Noah,

I am a professional respected photographer and former college teacher
with over 50 years experience. My work, including the books your
Apple Books just now twice cancelled, have been published worldwide
and exhibited and sold in the US and at the Au Bonheur Art Gallery in
Paris, which represents me and my Apple books in Europe. That one of
these books is now being designated, for the first time, by Apple as
'inappropriate' is clearly without merit. The Bad Boys book, for
example, is Prefaced by retired Professor of Philosophy Frits Staal at
the University of California at Berkeley and the content of the Fetish
Fantasy book in question has been presented in a gallery at the highly
acclaimed QAR website <www.queer-arts.org>, since 2006. It would
appear therefore that this is perhaps a case of gay and/or
multicultural discrimination since the photos in question are mainly
gay and multicultural in nature suggesting possible sexual and/or
racial discrimination on the part of Apple. Here is my bibliography
that includes the cancelled book in question:

<www.photos-biron.com/words/bibliog01.html>.
.
What further endorsements or justifications do you seek from me? I can
only hope your decision to no longer publish my book will be
reconsidered and this inappropriate censorship of my books will be
lifted immediately as I have a client waiting for his copy of the The
Fetish Fantasy Book that was twice cancelled in the past week.
Consequently, I look forward to a rapid resolution of this matter
without the intervention of my attorney.

Sincerely,

Lionel A. Biron

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On May 10, 2008, at 1:06 PM, photoservices@apple.com wrote:

Dear Lionel,

Thank you for your Apple photo order. I understand you would like to
know why your order was canceled. My name is Noah and I am happy to
assist you with this matter.

Upon carefully examining your order, we identified what we deem to be
inappropriate content. As a result, your order has been cancelled and
you have not been charged. We're very sorry for any inconvenience.
For more information about what material is considered inappropriate,
please review the Apple Photo Services Terms of Service at:
http://www.apple.com/internetservices/terms/membership_terms.html
Before resubmitting your order, be sure to preview and reorder your
book as described in this article:

How to preview an order in iPhoto or Aperture
http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n304699

We know you have a lot of options and we appreciate your loyalty to
Apple Photo Services. Apple is dedicated to providing you with the
best possible service.

Sincerely,

Noah
Apple Photo Services Customer Support
http://www.apple.com/support/photoservices/ww/
Please Note: I work Tuesday-Saturday, 7AM-4PM CT

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to assist you. You may
receive an AppleCare survey email; any feedback you provide would be
greatly appreciated.

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Customer First Name : Lionel
Customer Last Name : Biron
email : photosbybiron@me.com
Web Order # : 44696641
Support Subject : I'm Having Problems Placing My Order
Sub Issue : I have a different problem placing my order
Comments : See Additional Info Below
Preferred Email Address: photosbybiron@me.com
Application Type: iPhoto 7.1.2
Operating System: Mac OS X v10.5.2
Product Type: Books

Comments:
Why has this order been cancelled. The previous order on same day went
through OK:

44696641
Book
05/07/2008
Standard
Cancelled
TrackID: 5658866