On Friday, November 04, consumers from the United Kingdom and Mexico filed a class-action lawsuit against Apple Computer, Inc. in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, claiming the new iPod Nano is defectively designed allowing the screen to quickly become scratched with normal use.
According to the complaint the world’s largest manufacturer of portable music players knew of the iPod Nano’s design flaw but chose to ignore them in an effort to speed the product to market.
According to the suit, the defect is a result of a much thinner layer of resin used in designing the Nano that does not provide adequate protection from scratching.
This suit follows a similar class-action case filed on October 19, 2005 against Apple Computers on behalf of iPod Nano users in the United States.
Steve Berman, lead attorney on both cases, attributes the second suit to the large number of international requests to be included in the class-action. “Apple’s iPod Nano has sold in record numbers around the world, just as it did in the US,” said Berman in a press release, “It seems that wherever the Nano is sold, problems with the defective design soon follow.” According to 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.”
MacDailyNews Note: See related article regarding Steve Berman: Pro-Microsoft attorney involved in anti-Apple iPod nano lawsuit – October 25, 2005
Named plaintiff, Ben Jennings of the United Kingdom, purchased a Nano in September and was extremely cautious with the screen. Despite his efforts to protect the Nano, within a week the screen was so marred with scratches it became hard to read. “If I had known the truth about the problem, I never would have purchased a Nano,” said Jennings in a press release.
According to Berman, residents outside the US are able to ask the court for help since Apple is headquartered in the United States
The suit seeks to represent and recover money lost for all those who live outside of the United States who purchased an iPod Nano.
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What’s the difference between a lawyer and a bucket of shit? The bucket. (Yes, it’s an old one, but its age doesn’t make it untrue.)
“Lawyers should not marry other lawyers. This is called inbreeding, from which comes idiot children and other lawyers.” – David Wayne in the film “Adam’s Rib,” 1949, Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin writers.
Related articles:
iPod nano ‘scratches’ lawsuit really only benefits attorneys – October 27, 2005
Pro-Microsoft attorney involved in anti-Apple iPod nano lawsuit – October 25, 2005
Report: Apple relaxes 5G iPod return policy; to include protective cases with future iPod nano units – October 26, 2005
Class-action lawsuit filed against Apple over iPod nano scratches – October 21, 2005
PC Mag’s Ulanoff on iPod nano scratches: ‘I could see a jealous competitor planting the story’ – October 06, 2005
Mossberg: Apple iPod nano scratches easily, get a case to protect it – October 06, 2005
Apple iPods have always been far too scratchable, protective cases required to keep iPods pristine – September 30, 2005
invisibleSHIELD offers rugged, clear protection for Apple iPod nano and other iPod models – September 30, 2005
Got some nano scratches? Restore your iPod nano to new condition with a $4 can of Brasso – September 29, 2005
The Motley Fool: Apple did the right thing in quickly addressing cracked iPod nano screens – September 28, 2005
iPod nano ‘screen issues’ really just FUD? – September 26, 2005
Apple responds to iPod nano screen issues – September 27, 2005
i love ipod nanos. i hate b*tches. these losers should stop being so greedy, and realize that they have the second best mp3 player out there (second to the full sized ipod with video, of course).
These suits are frivolous. Did Apple not already offer to replace and Nano with screen defects? The judge should just toss the cases out. IMHO!
MW: both. indeed!
I liked Adam’s Rib. Good movie.
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I wonder if one of these plaintiffs is named Gill Bates? Or perhaps Gob “Krispy Kreme” Rlaser.
i don’t get it – they have no money, and they are coming here because there is no Money in mexico – where the fcsk are they getting 4Billion pesos to buy an iPod?
Food, clothes, school first – then iPods – bitches.
I think i’m going to find some lawyers tomorrow to file lawsuits against all kinds of companies. i can think of all kinds of products that scratch “too easy”
The thought crosses my mind if MS might have bought several nanos with the intent to sue thepants off of Apple. Sounds like the crap that MS would try.
funny i have a nano…… have no case but keep it in a soft pouch that can with someones cheap watch, have taken it out used it in the gym countless times, dropped it on tread mill twice and it still looks almost perfect.
i have 4 ipods now inc the orginal and generally buy cases, have to say cases are often the problem is a tight fitting one is bound to scratch if taken on and off.
so all this nano scratch stuff leaves me perplexed, of course they will but any easier than anything else??? i dont think so.
i LOVE my white 4gig nano. you couldn’t tear it from my cold dead hands (cliche i know) but it is the best electronic device besides a cell phone i’ve ever owned.
HAVING SAID THAT – there is a scratch on my screen. don’t know when i got it. doesn’t prevent me from reading the music (i didn’t put any photos on it), but it is an eyesore.
HAVING SAID THAT – it’s not worth a lawsuit.
HAVING SAID THAT – they should have used a better material that doesn’t scratch.
don’t people have the same exact problem with cell phones that have the screen on the outside. but that’s why they sell little clear plastic screen stickers right next to the things at the store. common sense folks.
MW: protection!
This is seriously one of the most stupid class action lawsuits I’ve ever seen. I can’t believe this hasn’t been tossed out of court already.
You Macdailynews readers are a bunch of whiners. especially whoever posts the stories. you bitch and complain about every flaw whether it is minor or major in every microsoft product, but when it comes to apple, there is never any wrong doing. it’s the lawyers’ fault. because, of course, apple is your god. The comment by MacConvert is the most asinine comment I have ever read. I’m not sure if his brain was even functioning when writing that, or if his fingers have little idiotic brains of their own.
the truth of the matter is, none of you have any idea regarding the merits of this case. yes, it could be frivilous, but it also could be true that apple did in fact know about the design flaw. until there’s an investigation, there is no way to know.
and another important point: without pissed off customers, there is no law suit.
“Kill all the lawyer”… worst than PIMPS! Disgusting!
I fell off my couch last night and briefly inconvenienced myself. I didn’t realise I could sue for this. Who do I get in touch with?
Scum-sucking lawyers, possibly motivated by anti-Apple bias. What a combination. Anyone remember the AOL Airport litigation? Anyone here a member of “the class”? Did you get your worthless coupon while the lawyers collected millions in fees? This will be the same. Except dumber. No consumers will win here, only the parasitic lawyers.
I scratched me eyeball last night when I ripped a paper towel off the roll and the corner nicked my eye.
I’m suing International Paper and Weyerhaeuser. I’m suing Proctor and Gamble. I’m suing Bounty.
Fsckers.
[Jerky Boys]
“Ehhh . . . Sue Everybody!”
[/Jerky Boys]
HEY —
I just saw what I believe is a BRAND NEW COMMERCIAL for the new iPods with video. Started out with footage of U2 singing and gradually pulled back to reveal that you were looking at the screen of the new iPod.
Did I miss this or something? Has this already been reported? Just saw it on Monday Night Football (11:35pm EST).
?
I was just informed that I was on the winning end of a class action suit against Netflix. I didn’t even know there was a case. Attorneys count onthe reality that if the group is big enough, they can find enough individuals within that group that will be willing to be a party to a suit just to get something for nothing. I don’t know what the grand total of the judgement against Netflix was—most likely substantial in lump sum figures— but I do know what my “winnings” were as an individual in the successful class. I am to receive ONE extra video rental at no charge for ONE month. Whoo-hoo!
I’d be willing to bet dollars to donuts that the attorneys ON BOTH SIDES weren’t paid in video rentals. Class action suits have become an industry and are now simply a method attorneys use to get very rich.
Q: What do you call a 1000 drowned class action attorneys?
A: A good start.
The world is not ready for the iPod nano. They’re all too stupid to realize that stuff sctratches- especially when the majority of the whiners purchased a BLACK nano!! For shame! You are lucky to even have one!
MW: simply- Simply put, we need to fix our court system.
Bisa: the truth of the matter is that your feeling a little inadequate about life, so you decide to come here, make some generalized comments about MacDailyNews readers. Lump everyone together into one giant class-action insult, ass-uming that the comments posted by a few people on the news story reflects the opinions of every person that comes here. And then rant some psuedo-intellectual speal about how “we” should stop whining, get all the facts and should feel stupid because, obviously there can’t be a lawsuit without pissed off customers.
Thanks for inspiring wisdom that you’ve shed on us today!
I bought my 4gb white Nano the first week the Nano’s arrived here in Australia. After about a week i checked it against strong light for some minor faint scratches near the click wheel. Im not going to sue anyone, all i did was hop down to the local newsagent and bought a book cover roll of clear contact for $1.50 and just covered the Nano with it. Protects it perfectly and works well, doesn’t even look like its got anything protecting it either.
mines got a few scratches, its ok, I still think its beautiful
I get so sick and tired of these frivolous law suits. Why don’t we get a bunch of lawyers together to sue Microsoft for selling an operating system with known holes in it?
lawyers fees……
Ahhh.. the old “bucket of shit” routine. Great way to belittle the shoddy treatment Apple has given customers over this issue.
They’re just being silly now. They decide in advance, with no significant problems reported, that they’ll trade in a 5G iPod that appears to have been damaged by abuse, no questions asked. But they won’t exchange a nano that is unreadable after LOTS of people reported the problem and a lawsuit has been filed.
They’re just trying to look tough now, and it’s stupid. Apple, just fricking play nice. You goofed on the nano. Make it better and trade out the crappy ones. This is the kind of lawyer–I mean, shit–that keeps you off the top of the mountain.
PC Apologist,
With a name like that, your work will NEVER be done!
Perhaps, just perhaps, the Nano suit has merit. It just MAY, indeed, be flawed in its design and execution. If so, Apple should make everyone whole, for it is THAT kind of company.
Now . . . and with that said, PC Apologist . . . what do you have to say about that heap of operating system crap you work with? You know: Mt. Windows! Never in the history of technology has a product been so flawed, so inherently destructive, so unabashedly worthless as the Microsoft product you defend.
Why doesn’t YOUR company apologize for what IT has done to the computing and business world, and recall all of the copies of Windows it has sold for the past 20 years? Wouldn’t THAT be the right thing to do, as well?
Yes, the resin on the Nano MAY be insufficient to protect the device from the offish and the ham-handed . . . but what protection does Microsoft offer ITS customers from its shoddy code?
None, PeeCee Apologist. And you should be ashamed of EVER supporting such paucity of talent and inspiration as that which spews from Redmond, WA.