After a few months ago a Louisiana man filed a lawsuit against Apple, claiming that the iPod can cause hearing loss in people who use it. Apple issued a software update Wednesday for its recent iPod models - the Nano and the video-capable iPod - allowing users to set how loud their digital music players can go. Parents also can use the feature to impose a maximum volume on their child’s iPod and lock it with a code.

Sandy Liao, a Fremont mother of two, welcomed the development, although she wants to see Apple eventually add the feature to the models she has, the Shuffle.

She had specifically avoided buying her children any kind of portable music or CD player out of concern they would damage their ears, but a friend gave a Shuffle to each of her children, ages 9 and 10, as gifts last year.