Low-power FM Transmitters Banned in UK

Acey writes "The BBC News is reporting that the Griffin iTrip falls foul of the UK Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949 (PDF). In short, the iTrip is an unlicensed FM transmitter and that's not allowed. The UK distributor, A M Micro, have pulled the iTrip. More ominously they warn that "Use of the iTrip in the UK therefore constitutes an offence and can lead to prosecution of the User". Guess that makes me an outlaw, because you'll have to pry my iTrip from my cold, dead hands."

Sooo..

[Locky (608008)]

Any rewards for turning people in?

Re:Sooo..

[muffen (321442)]

Any rewards for turning people in?
I'm sure you meant to say: Any rewards for tuning people in? :)

How will they enforce?

[davisshaver (583015)]

How exactly will they enforce this? Will it be like a second degree offence, like seat belts are in some US states?

Re:How will they enforce?

[ebcdic (39948)]

No-one's ever going to be prosecuted for using one, any more than if you use wi-fi channel 12 in the USA. They just won't be for sale here.

Re:How will they enforce?

[dontod (571749)]

I'm in the UK and recently bought on of these. [merconnet.com] It's an almost identical product called an FM 'Linker' but basically you plug it into any headphone socket et voila you're a radio station.

They say the range is about 5M (therefore just for personal use) but it is well over 100 metres. So I'm waiting to get busted when I broadcast web radio stations around my house (and over a small portion of town).

Don

------
There's a 4:30 in the morning now?

Re:How will they enforce?

[dontod (571749)]

You would love it if you lived near me. Top quality music and speech radio commercial free and located away from any existing stations.

Still as I said you'd have to be within 100m of me, and if you were, I'd move.

Don

------
Homer: Chop chop, dig dig, chop chop, dig dig
Marge: You know Homie, there's so much more two wives can do for you...
Homer: I hear digging, but I don't hear chopping.

Re:How will they enforce?

[AKnightCowboy (608632)]

Maybe not very likely, but if the Radio Licensing Authority gets one good complaint about an illegal transmitter (doesnt matter if its short range) and they nail the owner, they might decide to make an example out of whoever sold it to them.

Geez, these UK guys really take this whole spectrum thing seriously. What's next, forcing people to buy a license to listen to the radio or watch television!? What kind of crazy socialist world is this turning into?

Re:How will they enforce?

[palfreman (164768)]

Modern wideband / spread spectrum technology flat out contradicts what you've just said. See the artical [acmqueue.org] of a few weeks ago. Multiple overlapping transmission and reception with intelligent tunerless radio equipment. Just as one doesn't need ownership of the colour green in order to distinguish individual blades of green grass, you don't need ownership of a particular radio frequency to communicate effectivly. You might also like to check out the GNU Radio [gnu.org] project, where these technologies are already being implemented in an open source project.

I don't normally flame people on Slashdot, but IMO your knee-jerk pro-authority attitude is the root cause of all our problems in England. Having people with your sort of attitude around is a real drag. The kind of things you want don't make anyone safer, they make life harder and more dangerous for everyone.

Like hearding sheep over London Bridge

[threeturn (622824)]

I can't believe the amount of milage this story has had. Yes the thing it technically illegal in the UK, as are all other devices that transmit at low power in the commercial FM band. As is pointed out elsewhere the law goes back years and years. However that doesn't mean that you can't but these devices, or that lots of them aren't already in use with no problems.

No, nobody is going to bother to enforce the law. It it doesn't cause a problem who cares? It is a complete non-story.

Like the ability of Freemen of London to heard sheep (or not) over London Bridge lots of laws lie around long after the environment they related to has changed out of all recognition.

Re:How will they enforce?

[SaturnTim (445813)]

They actually enforce this kind stuff. My company brought a bunch of 802.11b stuff over there for an event, and the day we set it up someone from their department of silly walks and radios showed up to talk to us about it.

In the end we had everything in order, and a large 802.11b installation will probably draw more attention than a fm transmitter speeding down the road, but they do watch.

--T

Re:How will they enforce?

[Frymaster (171343)]

What would actually happen is that if your device happened to be in range of someone's receiver and interfered with the channel they were trying to listen to...

the whole point of a lot of british broadcasting law isn't to protect the listener/consumer, it was originally designed to protect the broadcaster - the bbc. you have to understand that in the uk, unlike the us or europe, the legal tradition has been firmly against private broadcasting.

originally, the bbc was the only broadcaster allowed in the uk - radio being "too powerful" a tool to be left to private interests. but, of course, the bbc sucked and by the '30s most of the uk was listening to european stations - most notably radio luxembourg - with bad reception but better programming. many of the broadcasting laws from the 40s were designed to discourage these "foreign" stations.

by the 60s there were a lot of private broadcasters targeting britain, though, by setting up shop on boats outside the three mile limit in international waters. the notable one here is radio caroline of course. the labour government at the time was simply balistic about this movement but couldn't legally squealch it because of that pesky maritime law thing.

of course, it all came to a grinding halt when a guy called major smedly (who was a bit of a nut job in the first place) pulled a piracy job on a competing station called radio city. eventually, the battle took to dry land and smedly shot and killed calvert. the result was the marine broadcasting offenses act of 1967 which was pretty draconian and the pirate broadcasters were shut donw.

What is it?

[muffen (321442)]

For all you people (like myself) who had no idea what iTrip is/was, here's the link from googles cache [216.239.37.104].

From the page: You are looking at the coolest iPod accessory in the world. The iTrip FM transmitter for the iPod can play your music through any FM radio in your car, at a party, wherever the mood strikes you - and you have a radio.

Well if that is the case

[youngerpants (255314)]

Walkie-talkies should be banned as their signals can be picked up by an FM receiver (at least my old action man ones could, although the range was about 3 metres)

Neuros?

[tuffy (10202)]

What about the Neuros' built-in low-power FM transmitting capability? Are those illegal to use in the UK also? It all seems a bit excessive to me, considering the tiny range.

Re:Neuros?

[MikeCamel (6264)]

Yes, it is illegal, and not just in the UK - this is quite common in Europe, I believe. If you look at the Neuros [neurosaudio.com] forum pages, you'll see that they're intending to disable broadcast capability. They may well do this in firmware.

Eclectic Micro Stations

[niko9 (315647)]

This could/can be the begining of eclectic microstations. You can tune into a 24/7 iTrip at work/your building/bus stop etc., instead of listening to one of big conglomerate boring stations.

My other sig is an ambulance!

Re:Eclectic Micro Stations

[Xerithane (13482)]

Government is a disease, masquarading as its own cure.

Yeah, but so is life.

A 100% fatal, incurable, sexually transmitted disease.

Government is the same, except they fuck you instead.

Fun?

[chefbb (691732)]

Seems excessive, but if you lived in an apartment complex, you could have some serious fun with one of these things broadcasting to the station your neighbor happens to be listening to. :)

Re:Fun?

[The Jonas (623192)]

In the 1980's Radio Shack [radioshack.com] used to sell an FM transmitter that you could wire into your car radio. The range was good enough to transmit from vehicle-to-vehicle. We were in high school at the time and the number of radio stations in town were limited. Therefore, if we were lucky enough to be on the road within a couple of car lengths from someone we knew we could broadcast an obnoxious message through their radio if we guessed what station they were listening to. The girls did not seem to appreciate our unauthorized transmissions. ;)

Re:Fun?

[tmark (230091)]

The girls did not seem to appreciate our unauthorized transmissions. ;)

Or, they did not appreciate the attention from a people who probably look like people who shop at Radio Shack and have enough time to wire up such a contraption.

Er - ah - hm

[Dark Paladin (116525)]

On the one side, I can understand the Governments position:

Thou Shalt Not have Unlicensed Radio Transmitters.

This is important, because if just anybody set up shop, soon the radio waves would be a mess of people just putting stuff out, and nobody could hear the station they wanted too - just the one with the biggest pen- ah, broadcast antennae.

On the other hand, I think the range of this thing is - what - 10 to 30 feet? Watch out, Britian! Those pirate radios will be able to be heard from the other room! Anarchy and chaos as Julie tries to dance to Nsync while Dad's got his iPod broadcasting the Spice Girls in the other room! Mum - you'd best be keeping that "Black Mages" heavy metal to yourself!

This seems more like an issue of someone in beurocracy[SIC] getting a bug up their ass and not using common sense more than anything else.

Re:Er - ah - hm

[misterpies (632880)]

anything with a range more than 6 feet is likely to reach either the apartment above or the apartment below me. 30 feet and it will reach about 10 other apartments in my block. but there's a simple alternative: cordless headphones. OK so you won't be able to tune in from your car radio, but you will be able to listen to your iPod (or any other music source) from up to 100 ft away. I think cordless headphones use an unlicensed UHF band so there's no issue of interference with legit radio stations, though obviously if too many people buy the 'phones in one neighborhood they'll run into problems.

the ultimate solution is to have a device that broadcasts a local DAB (digital radio) signal. That will eliminate most interference issues (as well as radio hiss) and allow you to view track info on your digital radio. DAB is starting to take off in a big way in the UK now so somesuch gadget is probably not that far down the line.

nutty limeys

[nanojath (265940)]

So, like, is a Mr. Microphone illegal in the U.K.? And did I just date myself by mentioning Mr. Microphone?

Re:nutty limeys

[sammy baby (14909)]

I have fond memories of Mr. Microphone ads. Especially when the kid crusing around in the car with his friend says, "I'll see you girls later," as if he was some kind of pre-pubescent stud.

(For those of you who were too young / don't remember, Mr. Microphone was a kids toy which attached a cheap mic to a low power radio transmitter, so you could talk and pick it up through your car radio.)

But to answer your question - yeah, I'm pretty sure it would be illegal. Although I don't remember if it used an FM or

Dating yourself

[FearUncertaintyDoubt (578295)]

And did I just date myself

Dating yourself is a tradition among slashdot readers, and...oh, you meant...I thought that you were talking about...never mind

doubt it

[nomadic (141991)]

-Guess that makes me an outlaw, because you'll have to pry my iTrip from my cold, dead hands.

No, it would just take a uniformed constable. Let's not overestimate ourselves here.

OT but reminds me of ....

[tetranz (446973)]

Many years ago I remember reading a British electronics hobbyist magazine which had an article on how to build a metal detector. There was a warning that before using it you needed to go to a government office and get a pipe finders license.

Time to update the law...

[Xentax (201517)]

It seems like the legislature, the broadcasters, and the consumers, ought to be able to work out an exception provision to the existing laws.

Specifically, they ought to allow unlicensed transmitters below a certain output power (anyone know what the iTrip's broadcast power is?).

I mean, the spectrum licensees have a vested and understable interest in keeping their airwaves free of interference, but I don't think low-power transmissions like these had been envisioned when the law was codefied (receivers were a wee bit less sensitive and precise in 1949, methinks).

Xentax

Will they try and confiscate my ...

[burgburgburg (574866)]

Mr. Microphone?!?

How will I pick up the chicks? How will I karoake? How will I LIVE?!?!?!

Low powered FM

[56ker (566853)]

The FM range 88 - 108 MHz has been used for wireless microphones for ages - how are these Griffin Itrips any different?

More barriers to market entry

[Gothmolly (148874)]

Why the fuss over low power FM? Because it allows anyone to become a broadcaster or content creator. By raising the specter of 'interference', broadcasters and others can FUD the legislatures into banning enabling technologies like this.

No news here

[erroneous (158367)]

The UK has *not* just passed a new law banning the iTrip specifically or deliberately, as half the posters on slashdot seem to believe.

The distributors of the iTrip, having taken legal advice, have decided that use of the iTrip probably constitutes a breach of an old law about FM broadcasting and have therefore chosen not to distribute it here.

Nothing has actually changed and British police are not about to start hunting down people with suspicious bulges on the top of their iPods.

Obligatory "Men in Black" Quote

[mykepredko (40154)]

In response to "you'll have to pry my iTrip from my cold, dead hands."

Your Proposal is Acceptable.

Now, where's a giant space cockroach when you need it.

myke

legal in New Zealand

[brucehoult (148138)]

Here in NZ we seem to be somewhere between the UK and the US (as in many other things).

The top and bottom 1 MHz of the FM band is reserved for unlicensed transmission with an effective radiated power of less than 300 mW. So as long as you tune your iTrip to 88 - 89 MHz or 107 - 108 MHz you're fine.

I've been wondering about getting an iTrip once the version for the new model iPod is available (Apple changed the connectors on the top...), but my car's radio.casette has a line-in (marked "CD") on the front panel anyway, and that's better quality.

Re:Interface options

[Anonymous Coward]

Simple.. wire in an in-line (through the antenna) FM transmitter.. Since you are only transmitting on a private wire, vs public airwaves you are fine.

Re:Interface options

[Van Halen (31671)]

Like some people already said, you have a couple of options. In the vast majority of cases, the quality will be far better than using something like the iTrip. On Apple's discussion board [apple.com] many people have reported major problems just finding an open frequency in populated areas. Anyway, your alternatives are:

• Use a cassette adapter, which you can get pretty cheap at any place like Best Buy, etc. The quality is pretty good, but you definitely get some tape hiss type of noise. I use this daily in my truck and am quite happy with it.

• Hook it up directly to the antenna input using an FM modulator [logjamelectronics.com]. Unlike the iTrip, this is a direct-wired connection that goes in between the radio's head unit and your car's antenna. The quality is pretty much the best that FM can be, as if you were parked right outside a radio station with a powerful transmitter. And with this, you don't have to worry about interference from existing stations because the iPod's signal overrides the antenna when it is in use.

• Hook it up directly to the head unit's auxiliary input, if one exists. This will give you the best quality if you can do it. Many stereo head units have a CD changer input in the back, even if the car didn't come with a changer. You would need some sort of converter [logjamelectronics.com] for this type of input. Some stereos actually have RCA inputs in the back (or front) and some even have a 3.5mm stereo jack in the front, in which case all you need is a simple cable.

I ended up going with the third option for my wife's 2002 Nissan Altima, since it has no tape deck and I didn't want to mess with an FM modulator. It has a CD changer input in the back, but the place linked above doesn't have anything for the Altima. I found a guy who makes custom cables [virtualoutlook.net] for it, so I ordered that along with a switch to put the radio in aux mode. Installation was pretty easy and actually kind of a fun project, especially drilling the hole in the dash to install the switch. ;-)

So as you can see, there are plenty of options. Of course what would be the best is a little dock that provides power, line out, and steering wheel remote controls. Just slide the iPod in and off you go!

Re:Interface options

[Raffaello (230287)]

Buy a cassette adapter. Here's one for example:

XtremeMac's iPod Cassette Adapter [xtrememac.com]

Though any cassette adapter will work (there are many manufacturers).

Re:Government-controlled media

[turgid (580780)]

and nazis in vans prowl around and bust people for having TV's without paying a tribute?

This is no exaggeration. I had no TV for 6 years and those gits hounded me relentlessly. They kept sending me threatening letters warning of a possible 1000 fine for not having a TV license even though I didn't have a TV. They made me sign a form declaring that I had no TV set, which I did, and then they sent me another one, and another one, and I phoned them and told them and then they sent and inspector to my house!

When I moved house, they started sending the letters again, which I signed and returned. A week or two later a poster went up on the billboard across the road saying "3 addresses at Himalayan Way do not have Television Licenses. We know who they are."

I was so tempted to go out with a can of paint and write "At least one of them has no TV set" but I didn't. A year later I bought a TV and a damned license. Now I spend too much time as a TV zombie and not enough time writing code.

Television is a powerful opiate and population control machanism. I admire people who can control it. I'm succumbing again.

Re:Government-controlled media

[nick_davison (217681)]

A conversation a friend of mine who lived in W1 (Very central London) recounted having:

"Sir, do you have a TV license?"
"Nope."
"Do you have a TV?"
"Nope."
"We detected a TV from our van, inside your property."
"No you didn't. Must be a mistake."
"Sir, I can hear the EastEnder's theme coming from inside your appartment."
"You must be imagining it."
"Sir, if we need to, we can get a warrant to enter the premises and be back within the hour."
"No you can't."
"Yes we can Sir, the courts look very favorably upon our requests."
"They look even less favorably upon giving search warrants to enter property belonging to the Queen."
"Oh. Well... You really should get a license."

The joys of the royal family owning half the best properties in the city.

Re:Government-controlled media

[lokedhs (672255)]

In sweden, it would sound like this:

"Hello, we've noticed you don't pay a television license. Do you have a TV?"
"No"
"We detected a TV from our van, inside your property."
"No you didn't. Must be a mistake."
"Sir, I can hear [insert name of crappy US sitcom here] theme coming from inside your appartment."
"You must be imagining it."
"Sir, if we need to, we can get a warrant to enter the premises and be back within the hour."
"No you can't."
"Damn you right. We can't. But if you don't pay your license we'll taunt you again!"

The television license inspectors do not have the right to enter your house unless you admit them. And they would not get a warrant even if they tried. Only crimes above a certain severity can give them a warrant to enter your house.

Translation to American English

[I.A.N.A.T. (685596)]

In America, it would sound like this:

Officer: Do you have a TV license?
Person: Nope.
Officer: Good, because we don't have those here like in some unfortunate countries.
Person: Damn right. You think they need licenses to read books too?
Officer: Probably. You know how much it sucks over there.
Person: Over where?
Officer: Who cares?
Person + Officer: Ha hahahah hahahahahhaha!!!
Person: Hey, wanna beer?
Officer: Whoa there! I'm on duty...so no more than two or three.

Re:Government-controlled media

[misterpies (632880)]

They sent an inspector to me too, but of course I was at work. So I wrote back saying they were welcome to inspect our place, but would they mind visiting after 6pm or on weekends since... surprise surprise, they never called back. I guess they're not _that_ keen...

At the time though I felt a twinge of sympathy for Saddam Hussein. The British government kept telling me that it knew I had banned equipment (an unlicensed TV set). When I denied this they told me they knew I was lying and were going to send in inspectors. And when I offered to cooperate with the inspectors (though on my terms - I'll be damned if I'll be subject to unannounced inspections of my home at any time of the day or night - though Saddam even agreed to that), they pulled them out.

Luckily for me the analogy stops there. Otherwise my flat would be occupied by government agents triumphantly brandishing my laptop as proof that I had a mobile TV-development laboratory that could be turned into a fully functioning device within 45 minutes by the addition of a simple TV tuner card, which they had documentary evidence that I was trying to purchase from Niger...

Re:Government-controlled media

[misterpies (632880)]

In Briatin you have to pay for a license for anything which lets you watch a TV signal.

As to whether that sucks...IMO what really sucks is having TV shows, movies, even sports games interrupted every 10 minutes for a 5 minutes commercial break. In return for a 190 annual fee, Brits get 2 free-to-air TV stations and 5 national radio stations with NO COMMERCIAL BREAKS. And we're not talking marginalised, underfunded US style public broadcasting - they're the most popular stations in the UK, with rights to most major sporting events, movies, music etc. So you can sit down and watch a 3 hour movie (with stereo sound) right the way through, just like in the cinema. Or a 5 set Wimbledon final, without missing any shots. Not to mention all those original BBC geek classics like Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, Blackadder, Red Dwarf, Hitchikers Guide (originally a BBC radio show), Dr Who...Oh, and the BBC also has several (free) digital radio and TV channels as well.

Another bonus is that because of the competition with the ad-free BBC, commercial broadcasters in Britain restrict themselves to one commercial break every 15 minutes, so even on the 3 free-to-air commercial stations you can follow the plot of most shows without being constantly interrupted by life insurance salesman. Plus they have to compete with the BBC on breadth and quality, meaning that they can't get away with the endless repeats of Frasier and Seinfeld that seem to define primetime on most major US networks.

Now what I don't understand is this: the BBC can put out about 6 TV channels (including the digital ones) and dozens of radio stations (including local radio) for a charge of only 190 per year per household -- without needing any advertising income. This is far less than the cost of most cable or satellite TV subscriptions - and yet cable stations usually have as many commercials as free-to-air stations, and the programs rarely better BBC quality. What do they do with their money?

I guess it just goes to prove that with the right management and funding, publically owned services can outperform the private sector. Although actually I don't have a TV anymore...a DVD player hooked up to a computer monitor supplies the movies without me needing a TV license, radio and the net gives me the rest.

Re:Government-controlled media

[Malc (1751)]

Why is this marked as informative? It shows gross ignorance. The BBC is independent of the government via mandate. In fact, the BBC seems to institutionally take the stance when reporting the news that anything from the government must wrong, irrespective of whether they're left, right or centre. The BBC isn't owned, or controlled or funded by the government. The only possible hold the government has is over the renewing of the BBC's license (is the right term?), which is generally valid for longer than the maximum length of time the current government can sit before they have to call a general election.

Re:Government-controlled media

[rsidd (6328)]

I'd claw my eyes out if I lived in the US and had to watch your crap channels.

Indeed. I live in the US, I don't own a TV (CNN and Faux News? No thanks). I get much of my news from the BBC's website. Government-controlled? Is that why Blair and Alistair Campbell and friends are so upset with them lately?

Re:regulation of the airwaves

[Liquorman (691815)]

Pirate radio stations broadcast towards England from ships off shore, outside of English legal jurisdiction. Here is some historic info: http://www.offshoreradio.co.uk/spotday.htm

Re:regulation of the airwaves

[pommiekiwifruit (570416)]

Pirate radio stations broadcast towards England from ships off shore

And from tower blocks on no-go housing estates! But that tends to be (c)rap / hip-hop.

Re:regulation of the airwaves

[Viol8 (599362)]

Christ , get up to date, that was back in the 60s!
These days you just get teenagers and other retards broadcasting from the top of a tower block
with a directional microwave link to the studio so they're harder to track down by the police.

Re:regulation of the airwaves

[IpalindromeI (515070)]

Do you mean that actual pirates could be broadcasting on these pirate radio stations?

Ahoy, mate! Hand me that thar transmi'ah. I'll play a tune on me belly for all o' London t' hear!

Re:I wonder if the RIAA....

[Chibi Merrow (226057)]

Hmm yes the Recording Industry Association of AMERICA traveled BACK IN TIME to post-WW2 Great Britain and wrote legislation to ban devices that make use of the FM spectrum so that 54 years later they could force a distributor of an iPod accessory in the UK via a mole they planted in the company to read the law and after speaking w/ the Radio Agency conclude that the device is illegal there.

Next they'll use their nifty time travel technology to go back and assure that Victrola loses to Eddison so that his proprietary cylindrical records become the standard instead of the easy to use flat Victrolas...

COME ON MAN, GET A GRIP