ATR VS. APPLE

The Atari Teenage Riot iPhone app has been delayed by the German iTunes store due to a dispute over its content. The free app is set to feature every ATR album, song, and video, as well as photos, news updates, and more. But it also included something called "Riotsounds Produce Riots", an audio player that features sounds that ATR used at a May Day protest in 1999, at which the band members were arrested.

According to a press release, those sounds include "very low sub basses, square waves, noise sounds which trigger hysteria and panic within the audience." So your iPhone could make a whole lot of people very uncomfortable, if hooked up to big speakers-- which ATR encourages, via press release.

But Apple has held up the app's release while they investigate whether it's legal to release an app with all those noises on it. The band had hoped to get the app out in time for this year's May 1 protests, but that didn't happen.

Responding to inquiries about the app's status, ATR mastermind Alec Empire writes, "Today's status is that the ATR iPhone will be released within the next ten days. The Riotsounds player might be added later with an update. It's a legal loophole. So not sure yet what the outcome will be. But the free app which includes all ATRsongs and videos plus a lot of extras will still be pretty awesome, even if the Riotsounds player is not included in this version. ATR plans regular updates for the app including free bonus tracks, unreleased songs, outtakes and more."