OfCom has announced it will legalise those previously reported devices that allow MP3 player owners to transmit the output of their digital music players to their car stereos.
The iTrip plugs into an MP3 player and converts its output into a low FM signal, which can be picked up by a car stereo sitting beneath it, providing an easy way for iPod owners to play their digital music collection through their car's sound system. Which is all well and good, except that UK radio licensing rules forbid anyone without a licence from transmitting FM signals - even if said signal is so low it only goes a couple of metres. As a result iTrips have not, so far, been available legitimately here in the UK (ie you'll find them on dodgy market stalls but not in Currys). But, following lobbying from various quarters who pointed out that the rules forbidding the use of iTrips were decades out of date (they stemmed from 1949 legislation), OfCom has said it will allow the use of certain iTrip style devices.
That said, use of some devices currently on the market will remain illegal because they do not meet OfCom's technical specifications. Plus, many iTrip users, especially in London, say the problem with the devices isn't the fact they are illegal, but that is more or less impossible to find a bit of the FM spectrum to use the devices on, with every gap between official radio stations filled with pirate services.