Sucks for him, but I don't see how he has a case given that it's outside of the warranty period.
Do you guys have no consumer protection laws at all?
I'm not 100% sure on the official terminology, but in the UK (and presumably all across the EU) we have the right to demand a replacement on goods that dont last a 'satisfactory amount of time' - I.E in general don't last as long as you'd expect them to. This does mainly apply to electronics, and is based on price. So a £30 LCD obviously will not get replaced 2 years down the line, but a £500 one might.
It's a very grey area, but the law is there so that when something like this comes up, the consumer is protected, and rightly so.
I had a very similar on a 2007 iMac - the screen had terrible ghosting and was replaced twice under Applecare. I was able to get it replaced again 6 months after it expired - I just said it hadn't lasted a satisfactory amount of time for the price, and they accepted it.
I believe Australia also has the same, or a very similar law.