OfCom is expected to legalise those low power transmitter devices which enable iPod owners to play their digital music collection via a radio tuner.
As previously reported, the iTrip is a popular little device which you plug into your iPod and which then transmits its output via a lower powered signal to any nearby radio. They are especially popular for iPod users wanting to listen to their MP3 collections in their cars. But technically speaking they are illegal in the UK because the Wireless Telegraphy Act of 1949 forbids anyone transmitting radio signals without a licence, however low powered the signals might be. Therefore they cannot be bought from legitimate retailers in this country, though they are sold on some non-UK based websites and many a market stall across the country. But, following pressure from some technology and political types, OfCom is holding a public consultation on the devices and is expected to propose a change in the law to allow their legitimate use, maybe as soon as next year.
The recently quite vocal Liberal Democrat Culture Spokesman, Don Foster, who, if I remember rightly, was one of the first people to call for a review of the law regarding the devices, told reporters this weekend: "I am delighted Ofcom have ended this ludicrous ban, based on 1940s legislation... which threatened two years imprisonment to music lovers using iTrips. This decision... will not only regulate a booming black market and provide the country with valuable tax revenue, but also enable the iPod generation to enjoy their music using the latest gadgets."