BBC is reporting that the use of the iTrip is
illegal under UK law. However, if it is like a lot of other gadgets, like radar-gun detectors for cars, its
SALE is
not illegal. So you can go out and buy things, but you must never use them.... right? Yeh, right
When CB radio became popular over here (many moons ago) it was strictly illegal. But it took off in such a big way, the government of the day decided the only way to control it was to make it legal. Once they did that, it faded away, apart from the hardcore users. Ain't people strange?
The pirate radio reference goes back to the 60s when the BBC held the monopoly on domestic broadcasting in the UK. A few entrepreneurs bought old ships, anchored them outside the three-mile limit and broadcast pop programmes. They were made illegal in 1967, under an act which also made it illegal to listen to them... ah, democracy at work! One, Radio Caroline, carried on for several years, getting its supplies by tender from the continent. If you are interested in radio history, the full story can be seen
here. It tells us that the station name lives on via satellite....
A legacy of those pioneers is that the UK radio system got a good shake-up and we got commercial local radio to run alongside Auntie Beeb.
