Someone at Apple appears to have decided that the word "jailbreak" is a dirty word. The term is now being filtered in iTunes Store search results, as originally reported by Shoutpedia.

Apple often filters many of the most common swear words (but curiously, not "bitch"). When returning search results for these terms, the iTunes Store will show the word with most letters replaced with asterisks, e.g. "f**k."

And now, searching for the term "jailbreak" returns numerous results for songs and albums titled "J*******k." Curiously, the filtering doesn't appear to include a handful of TV shows and books with the word "jailbreak" or "jailbreaks" in the title, nor does it filter the word in every single case.

Apple might consider "jailbreak" a dirty word since it tried to argue that the DMCA made the practice "illegal." However, the Library of Congress deemed jailbreaking a "fair use" exemption from DMCA statutes.

Apple would not comment on the matter unless we agreed to wash our mouths out with soap.

UPDATE: Some readers are reporting that they are not or are no longer getting filtered results. Even in the Orbiting HQ, some of us are getting filtered results while others are not. It's not clear why some users are seeing different results.