AT&T Tech Support 360February 2, 2006 11:10 AM PST
Apple faces suit over iPod-related hearing loss
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The suit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif., charges that the iPod music player can produce sounds of up to 115 decibels even though some studies suggest that listening to music at that level for 28 seconds a day can cause damage over time. The suit, filed on behalf of John Kiel Patterson and all other iPod buyers, seeks monetary damages to compensate for the hearing loss suffered by iPod users, as well as a share of Apple's iPod profits.
The suit also seeks to force Apple to offer a software upgrade to limit the iPod's output to 100 decibels as well as provide headphones designed to block out external noise.
"Millions of consumers have had their hearing put at risk by Apple's conduct," the suit states.
An Apple representative declined to comment. The company has faced other suits over the iPod, including one over complaints that the devices scratch too easily. Apple reached a settlement in another case, related to the battery life of early iPods.
The latest court action follows several news articles quoting hearing experts who warn that prolonged digital music player use at high volumes may put people at risk of hearing loss.
Apple does caution customers in its iPod user manual, with a section labeled "Avoid Hearing Damage."
"Warning: Permanent hearing loss may occur if earphones or headphones are used at high volume," Apple states in the manual. "You can adapt over time to a higher volume of sound, which may sound normal but can be damaging to your hearing. Set your iPod's volume to a safe level before that happens."
The suit charges that the warning from Apple is inadequate because it fails to advise people what constitutes a "high volume" or a "safe level."
Apple was forced to limit the output of iPods to 100 decibels in France, although the suit claims that Apple has not done so in the U.S. and that even that level is "still not safe."
Patterson's suit cites National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health data that sets a safe exposure limit for noise of 85 decibels for eight hours a day. For each 5-decibel increase, the safe exposure time drops by half, the suit says.
The suit was brought by lawyers at Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro, one of two firms that filed the iPod scratching suit.
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Only in America
headphones? Why not sue Sony for the Walkman? Or just about any
rock concert hall. How 'bout any computer maker that outputs too
much volume when headphones are plugged in (I listen all day
through my computer).
I cannot believe people sometimes.
Class Action lawsuits are a fraud. The people affected will only see pennies compared to the millions the lawyers get.
These frivilous lawsuits should be thrown-out. It's a total waste of taxpayer money!
We should file a lawsuit against the law firm!
increased prices since companies have to pass legal costs for
defending themselves onto us. Does this guy think that no other
audio device around can cause hearing damage if you play it too
loud?
money under the shadow of doing "good" for people. So, an
ignorant plaintiff who can't take responsibility for his own health
and actions is going to cost the rest of us the ability to crank our
ipods through our car stereos. Take responsibility for yourself
and don't expect the world to cradle your non-forking family
tree.
I hope these guys lose to Apple, and then have to pay court fees
for their ignorance.
On top of it all, they'll force the passing of laws against
"frivolous lawsuits" which will dragnet legitimate lawsuits. All
these people are doing is making the rest of us pay for their
sheister vacations.
It is the responsibility of the user of any product to make sure that a produce in use is used safetly.
wants to take responsibility for their own actions. McDonalds made
me fat, videogames made me violent, and now iPods make me
deaf. This is not new technology. Walkman, portable CD players
and the like have been around for decades. If you haven't figured it
out by now, why should Apple be held responsible?
How many iPods have been sold so far?? I have one and I'm definitely not blaming Apple if I go deaf. This John Kiel Patterson is a first class idiot! Period! He wants a "share of Apple's iPod profits". What did he do to contribute to the success of the iPod? He bought an iPod no doubt, and now he's suing Apple for his lack of common sense and <cough> laziness-to-earn-money-the-honest-way </cough>. You're wasting your money John!
company for this... it's like say... hey! everybody let's sue all the
computers companies because they make us a little bit blind
everyday..
speaker or electronic component capable of outputting, "high
volume"
Jesus, wake the F*** up people.
It's easy enough to say that it should be up to the user to listen responsibly, but it's not always so easy to tell when music is too loud. To many of us, levels of sound that are damaging to hearing don't sound all that loud.
I'm not necessarily claiming this is reasonable, just noticing that the discussion here is more than a little one-sided in favor of the "people who go deaf deserve it because they're stupid" camp.
- just out for a quick buck
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by p0rtmonkey
February 2, 2006 4:18 PM PST
- I cannot believe some people. I'm sure the attorney that got this case is about to explode with happiness thinking he/she will get loaded with a positive outcome. This is such a waste of money and a poor use of time in our court system.
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