This is fantastic news. It appears that, due to popular demand and pressure from the Liberal Democrats, we'll soon be able to buy FM transmitters for iPods. These devices - things like the iTrip LCD or iTrip Dock work by sending what you're listening to over FM radio - turning your iPod into a radio station that can only be heard within a few feet of the radio you're listening on. The Liberal Democrats have succeeded in influencing OFCOM in the UK to change the regulation of low-power "personal" FM transmitters and remove licensing restrictions on Citizen's Band radio.
The BBC is covering the announcement of the lifting of the ban, specifically noting the whys and wherefores; these devices basically fell foul of the "Wireless Telegraphy Act of 1949", which prohibits use of radio equipment without a license. Primarily, the changes in the law are there to bring the UK in-line with a new European standard on low-power transmitters.
There are tons of these devices on the market, so make sure you do your research before buying - but this basically means that we're all going to be able to listen to our iPods in the car with significantly less stupid wiring floating around. It's not over yet - while they may be legal from the 8th of December, the versions that are currently on the market in the U.S. don't automatically fit the legal restrictions in place with this UK legislation, which implements the EU legislation implemented throughout the rest of Europe. We'll have to wait for these devices to get European Union CE branding - but once they've got that mark, and are licensed for sale in the EU, they'll now be legal here too; good news for anyone travelling to/from the continent, where these devices have been legal for some time.
On a personal note, this is good news for Matt and I because we don't own a car - we use Streetcar, a kind of community vehicle system. They've got cars parked all over London, and you can use the online system to book your nearest one for a period of time. Streetcars are fitted with iPod connection cables, so it doesn't truly matter in this case - but we found more often than not that we didn't use the cable because it's hidden in the glove compartment and out of the way. I'll be more likely to use it if I can use it through the FM transmitter.
Also on the way are changes in regulation for Citizen's Band (PDF) radios. Previously, you needed a license to use one - basically meaning that nobody did. Now, as a redneck from Wisconsin, what I'd like to see happen is cars all over the UK fitting it out and using it on long-distance trips to help them figure out traffic congestion issues and talk to truckers about problem areas on the road. That's the way it works in the U.S., where the CB radio has been a part of the midwestern culture since, well, as far back as I can remember.
I'm not sure I'm itching to see hundreds of teenagers cruising up and down the same bit of road. The whole cruising part of CB culture in the states is pretty much dead these days anyways - draconian laws were enacted in the U.S. that prevent you from driving up and down the same stretch of road more than four times, with fines in increasing amount starting at $200 and ending at something like $2500 before they impound your car... but the CB, on long-distance runs, was the single most useful thing in the car. Sure, the truckers used it to tell each other where the police were using radar guns; that's the negative, I expect, in the legislation - but the benefit was a real improvement in road safety around accidents and a reduction in traffic congestion as people with CBs avoided sections of road that had problems.
I hope that the change in licensing means that CB takes off, and provides social interaction between people on the roads - even if it's just the hardcore drivers that travel long distances. And if just one more driver manages to stay awake because he's listening to some redneck in a convoy wittering on instead of falling asleep at the wheel... well, that can't be a bad thing.
There's a few other random changes in there - some legalisation work for Inmarsat terminals, radar level gauges, and narrowband short-range radar (think "parking radar" and personal impact radar on vehicles). Cars are about to go very high-tech, in the high-end; I'm sure you'll hear about all the joys of that stuff in a future Fifth Gear, or something.
If you want to read it all yourself, you can get OFCOM's full text of the 2006 amendment (PDF), a press statement on what's covered in the regulation changes, and OFCOM's press release regarding CB radio and low power FM devices.
Over and out.
