Apple Move to Hush Up Exploding iPods

Apple have been accused of trying to cover up problems with their iPod product, attempting to silence a father and his daughter with a gagging order after the iPod exploded and the two sought a refund for the faulty product. According to The Times, Ken Stanborough, 47, from Liverpool dropped his daughter’s iPod, causing it to start to hiss. After the iPod began to become hot he threw it out of the backdoor and allegedly “within 30 seconds there was a pop, a big puff of smoke and it went 10ft in the air”.

This isn’t the first incident involving Apple’s iPod product. In March 2009, a mother in America began legal action against Apple on behalf of her son following his iPod touch allegedly exploding in his pocket and burning his leg.

Under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 s.2:

• where any damage is caused wholly or partly by a defect in a product, every person to whom subsection (2) below applies shall be liable for the damage.
• (2)This subsection applies to—
• (a)the producer of the product;
• (b)any person who, by putting his name on the product or using a trade mark or other distinguishing mark in relation to the product, has held himself out to be the producer of the product;
• (c)any person who has imported the product into a member State from a place outside the member States in order, in the course of any business of his, to supply it to another.

This means that a claim can be brought if a manufacturer produces a defective product and a person suffers an injury as a direct result of that defect.

Apple’s response to Mr Stanborough’s request for a refund was to grant it, but only on the premise that he and his family never mentioned the incident, otherwise there was a threat of legal consequences. It is a huge disappointment that an international company such as Apple feels the need to attempt to sweep this kind of incident under the carpet rather than put consumer safety first and it certainly doesn’t inspire confidence in their product.