Or you could just slap the whiny brat across the face & tell him he can have an ipod when he can afford one & not before.

Which is my point. There are easy ways to solve the problem that don't involve the government. This is a non-issue. I'm not one of those right wing libertarian types (anymore), but I still see no reason to get the government involved when it serves no necessary purpose.

This is an excellent point. One should make a habit of cracking their kids in the face every once in a while. It builds character. Not to mention if he's ever a soldier and he gets captured, he will be less likely to break if you've built his pain threshold a little bit.

yeah, all valid points, but my worry is that once they try regulating something like this they go overboard and apply it to all manufactures of headphones. And if they can take this right from us, what stops them from making laws like if you go jogging u need to wear a f'n helmet, lol. does the government have the right to try and protect us from ourselves this much.

I need my Swans at the highest volume level possible, it's just not the same otherwise.

Well, there goes the fun in Merzbow.

Everywhere I look the government is trying to play mommy and daddy for everybody "protecting" us from ourselves. What ever happened to the freedom of choice? People need to just live and let live.