FM transmitters for iPods and mp3 to go legal in the UK

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Thursday, 23 November 2006 22:03

Your IT - Entertainment

Just as making a digital copy of a CD to a computer file is still illegal in many countries, using an FM transmitter is still illegal in the UK, just as watching TV is without a license in that country. While laws are finally changing, are they changing fast enough?

Those FM transmitters used with iPods and other mp3 players all around the world to beam whatever is playing to the an FM radio frequency, to be heard through your car’s speakers or any stereo without cables, are used around the world by millions of people.

But in the UK they’ve always been illegal, until almost now. On December 8, 2006, they’ll be legalised by the UK’s telecommunications regulator Ofcom, partly because of consumer demand. They must also have realised that the law was making innocent criminals out of many people for no good reason.

Most iPod and mp3 player accessory manufacturers offer FM transmitters, with one of the most well known being the “iTrip”. A couple of mp3 players out there even have an FM transmitter built in as standard, although definitely not on any current model iPod.

Interestingly and thankfully for consumers, while these devices were not legal to use, they were always legal to buy and sell. As long as the FM transmitters in question are of the low power variety and conform to UK and EU standards, they’ll very soon be legal to use without worry.

It’s always nice to see sensible laws and regulations that actually benefit people enacted by governments and their respective regulatory bodies, as it happens so rarely!

All we need now are better rules and ways to pay for and legally share music and digital content with friends and family that bring all the advantages of peer-to-peer sharing and low costs while ensuring artists get paid. We live in hope that one day it will happen.