RSSiPod Nano Lawsuit Goes International
By Ed Oswald | Published November 8, 2005, 2:26 PM
Apple's headaches over early issues with its popular iPod Nano player went international last week after lawsuits were filed on behalf of owners in the United Kingdom and Mexico, according to court documents made public on Monday.
Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro, LLP, of Seattle, will represent the plantiffs in both cases. This same law firm is also pursuing a class action lawsuit against Intel, claiming the processor maker has coerced customers into not dealing with competitor AMD, and is involved in assembling a class action suit against DRAM manufacturers over artificially inflated memory prices.
The suit alleges that Apple had knowledge of the screen defects prior to the release of the Nano, but ignored them in favor of ensuring the product made it to the market in a timely manner. A similar suit was filed against the company on October 19 on behalf of U.S. owners.
"It seems that wherever the Nano is sold, problems with the defective design soon follow," lead attorney Steve Berman said. Since Apple is headquartered in the United States, international owners can use the American court system in order to seek relief, he added.
The suit will ask for a refund for any member of the suit that has been affected by the screen issues. Berman said a second lawsuit was filed due to the large number of international requests received to join the U.S. class action.
Apple's Nano problems go all the way back to its release in September. Just days after the first customers purchased the diminutive audio player, reports began to surface on the Internet of how easily the Nano could be damaged.
"My thoughts are that the nano is way too expensive to scratch so easily like this. In my case, the only thing my nano screen touched was the inside of my cotton shirt's pocket," a customer named Curt wrote on the now-defunct flawedmusicplayer.com site.
While Apple has said the problems are an isolated incident and claimed the plastic used on the Nano is identical to that on fourth-generation iPods, the company took the unusual step of relaxing its return policy on iPods late last month.
But all of this is not good enough for Berman. "The far-reaching response also reveals that this is not just a small problem or a bad batch of Nano's, but a defect in the overall design that should have been rectified prior to the release," he said in a statement.
I have to disagree with the whole notion that ppl are being careless. I got a new nano just 3 weeks ago from apple, because the battery on the one I had was defective.
I left the plastic cover on the front cause I havent been able to find a suitable cover for the Nano, however this is not the same material. The nano has only been in my front shirt pocket with nothing else with it inside and ontop of my computer tower(no rough edges or nothing) and the back of the nano is all scratched up. Its bad materials, and its unjustifiable.
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Apple does it again! Screw the customers they won't know. To bad Apple the jokes on you again. This is why Apple will never beat out the PC it's terrible business ethics, but some people haven't fiqured it out yet. To bad.
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I have to say, I have a hard time believing that a screen made of anything would scratch just sitting inside a cotton shirt pocket. He probably forgot that it was in his front pocket with his keys or something. The whole lawsuit seems a bit agressive, especially considering in the end, the lawyers will take most of the money and users may be left with a lot of time spent and a refund on their iPods. Funny though, the same people will probably use the refund to go buy another.
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Why would you have a hard time believing this? Do you think 1000s of people are making this up?
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That firm is about to cash in big time...
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Christ. Note that it is the same lawyer for all of the cases. The only one that is going to benefit from this is the lawyers. Lawyers like this are the scum of the earth and abuse the legal system to the full extent, all the while trying to make it appear that they are representing the little guy against Goliath. The reality is that this won't do a damn thing for me as a Nano owner but make me jump through a bunch of hoops for a refund. I just want my Nano (which I love with all of my heart) to be better protected when it leaves the factory.
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Umm.. that's why its a CLASS action Lawsuit, you can't have a CLASS action lawsuit filed by many lawyers, that would make it a diffferent case.. so yes, it WOULD be the same lawyer...
I lawyer, many litigants filing against Apple. It doesn't matter anyway, it will be thrown out. People are being wreckless with the Nano because its smaller. Its the same plastic, same screen, and same production as the OTHER Ipods, but at the time of release, there were no cases for the Nano, and since its smaller, it fits into places you wouldn't normally be able to put other Ipods because they weren't small enough.
Like the other user wrote, they are putting in their front pocket with keys, change, etc...
Lets take a scenario.. I buy a Nano. It came in the box, and it has no scratches. I take it out of the box, still no scratches. I leave it on my kitchen table over night, still no scratches. I use it, I cradle it, and I sync it.. Still no scratches..
I then take it with me and I use it, but I have no place to put it, so I put it my pocket.. NOW it has scratches, why? Because I put it my pocket and used it, and that's Apple's Fault? I don't THINK So.
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I believe it would be apples fault for making it a** easy to scratch.
I don't own one my self, but it seems like just by putting it in your pocket just a couple times, the ipod will be scratched. I've even heard of them scratching even when you slide them into the protective case.
I don't think by just saying "it's the same plastic as other ipods" solves anything. That doesn't fix the fact that your ipod is scratched. Your paying a premium price for the mp3 player and that's one of the few plus' of the ipod is the looks.
They can make better cases that house the ipod. I've had an iriver mp3 player (ihp-140) for over a year and a half. And guess what. There's no scraches on it. And of course I put it in my pocket, with my keys and metal pocket knife, for over a year!
So I believe it is Apples fault for charging a primium price for the ipod then making it cheaply.
One of the many reasons I don't have a ipod.
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I agree with bobthegoat2001. They can't just tell us that it's my fault it's broken because I used it. When they designed this thing, and knew how small it would be it would be really stupid not to design the nano to take a beating. What do they want us to do? Only use it infront of the computer or something stupid like that?
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It's a portable MP3 player, are you REALLY saying that we are to cradle it everywhere we go? What's the point of being portable? If I want something impossibly difficult to take anywhere with me (without damaging) I can just load my desktop into my car and plug my headphones into that.
Were this years down the road and people are talking about scratches from regular use, that is to be expected. But scratching days, weeks, or a month after purchase due to NORMAL use is simply unacceptable. If a pocket scratches it, where are you to put it? I could offer suggestions where Apple can put it, but I'll refrain. :)
Overall, this makes me glad I didn't rush out to buy one, and reinforces the reasons I shy away from Apple.
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