Judge dismisses 'defective iPod' class action against Apple

A US appeals court has upheld the dismissal of a class action lawsuit filed against Apple that claimed the iPod was defective and could cause hearing loss.

"The plaintiffs simply do not plead facts showing that hearing loss from iPod use is actual or imminent," the San Francisco-based US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said.

"The iPod has an 'ordinary purpose of listening to music' and nothing they allege suggests iPods are unsafe for that use or defective."

The suit against Apple was filed by Joseph Birdsong of Louisiana and Bruce Waggoner of California.

They claimed the iPod "is defective because it poses an unreasonable risk of noise induced hearing loss".

Mr Birdsong and Mr Waggoner said the iPod was capable of playing music as loud as 115dB and users may listen at unsafe levels.