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Don Foster’s Christmas list Nov 24

Changes to FM licensing rules will come in to force on December 8th that mean the iTrip and similar products which allow music on MP3 players to be transmitted to stereos via radio waves will become legal. This is good news for those wanting to get the best use of their digital music.

The BBC report credits consumer demand and persistent pressure from the LibDems. Don Foster, the party’s Shadow Culture Secretary, commented on the changes when the draft regulations were published last month:

“I am delighted that music lovers all over the country will finally have the right to enjoy this technology, without the threat of large fines or prison hanging over them.

“For the past two years the Liberal Democrats have repeatedly called for changes to legislation that, we believe, unfairly penalised iTrip users.

“It’s still not clear to me why it has taken this long to find a workable solution, but at least now I can put one of these devices on my Christmas list.”

I am putting an iPod on my own Christmas list this year so, if Santa determines I’ve been a good boy, this is one deregulation I could find very useful in the future.

One Response

  1. […] Once upon a time, to broadcast an the FM band you would need one hell of a lot of expensive equipment and a lot of money. Now for a few quid you can do it on the move. But it doesn’t broadcast at a high enough power to really cause any inteference with any existing radio stations – so I don’t see what the problem was – and obviously neither did Ofcom. […]