Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Harry Reid (D-NV), Charles Schumer (D-NY), and Tom Udall (D-NM) have sent a letter to Apple, Google and RIM saying apps that help drunk drivers avoid DUI checkpoints are bad for society and stop selling them. These are apps that, according to Ars Technica, “try to put DUI checkpoints on a map in real time to those that help users alert one another about police on the prowl for drunk drivers. One app that we found in the iOS App Store called “Checkpointer” specifically advertises its $4.99 offering as being able to save you ‘thousands of dollars by helping you avoid an arrest for a DUI.'” And there are lots more that do essentially the same thing. The Senators write in their letter: “We appreciate the technology that has allowed millions of Americans to have information at their fingertips, but giving drunk drivers a free tool to evade checkpoints, putting innocent families and children at risk, is a matter of public concern,” reads the letter. “We know that your companies share our desire to end the scourge of drunk driving and we therefore would ask you to remove these applications from your store unless they are altered to remove the DUI/DWI checkpoint functionality.” RIM has agreed to pull the drunk driver help apps from its store. No word yet from Apple or Google.
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