I don't believe apple covers those as much more could happen to them than the unit itself over the course of a year. I suggest that you ditch the crapple earBUDS and pick up a pair from either Sennheiser,Jbuds, or Sony.
Correct, as long as its a defect and not from physical damage.
Accessories of a device are covered under the same warranty.
If you want to get these looked at in an Apple Store, book a Genius Bar appt online, but don't forget to bring your touch. They'll need the serial number.
The outer white layer protecting the cables inside started peeling off on my older 2G touch's earphones. Walked into an Apple store with them and came out with a brand new one (the ones sold on the shelf).