Behind Your Business

A federal appeals court judge on Wednesday essentially pushed the mute button on a class-action lawsuit alleging that Apple's iPod earbuds are unsafe. Judge David Thompson of the Ninth Circuit Court in San Francisco upheld a ruling by a lower court dismissing a 2006 suit brought by two men who wanted the company to redesign its earbuds and test iPod users' hearing, in addition to paying damages.

No Proof

In his decision, Thompson wrote, "The plaintiffs do not allege the iPods failed to do anything they were designed to do, nor do they allege that they, or any others, have suffered or are substantially certain to suffer inevitable hearing loss or other injury from iPod use. At most, the plaintiffs plead a potential risk of hearing loss not to themselves, but to other unidentified iPod users."

Thompson said lead plaintiffs Joseph Birdsong and Bruce Waggoner had demonstrated only that the earbuds, which are inserted directly into the ear canal, could be made safer. They also argued that the iPod itself was dangerous because it can play sound as loud as 115 decibels but does not have a warning on the device itself, only in the user manual.

Apple in early 2006 released a software update that allowed users to set volume limits or for parents to set controls for their children. That led lawyers from the firm Hagens Sobol Berman and Shapiro, representing the plaintiffs, to argue that the company was acknowledging a risk of hearing loss.

They also said in the suit that Apple in 2002 limited the volume in iPods sold in Europe to 100 decibels to comply with a French law, and American users were entitled to the same protections. In September, a commission of the European Union set an 80-decibel limit on music devices.

Cost of Doing Business?

Interpret Vice President Michael Gartenberg...