Eurocrat demands MP3 player volume limit mandate
Commissioner wants to extend French 'not too loud' law
MP3 players sold in Europe could one day come with pre-set audio volume limits if plans proposed by a European Commissioner become official.
Most MP3 players already allow users to set a maximum volume. However, an EC mandate would force manufacturers to automatically limit each player's volume before it could be sold in Europe.
Speaking in Brussels earlier today, Meglena Kuneva, European Commissioner for Consumer Affairs, said the mandate would force all MP3 players to be sold to consumers with a “safe exposure” volume setting as the default.
Consumers will still be able to override the safe default setting, she admitted.
Kuneva's scheme appears to be taking cues from established French law, which dictates that portable audio devices must not pump out music beyond 100dB.
The mandate would also impose new requirements for "adequate consumer warnings" about the risks of listening to loud music.
Despite being littered with hearing loss-related statistics and having received backing from the Royal National Institute for Deaf People, the plan is far from becoming law.
Kuneva has sent her suggestion to European Standardisation bodies, but admitted that “devising new standards for a market of 500 million consumers across the EU… can take up to 24 months”.
The mandate must still be presented before European Parliament. MP3 manufacturers will also want their say on its possible implications, too.
Extra detail will be added to the proposed legislation in due course, Kuneva admitted, including “detailed prescriptive technical solutions”. It’s reasonable to assume that this would stipulate what a safe volume is and how or where consumer warning should be placed. ®
COMMENTS
@Dale 3
That's actually a really good idea. You'd get rid of so much annoyance, help stop people being irritating on the bus- removing another reason for people to complain about using the bus- and it wouldn't really affect those who wanted loud music.
I would make it less-than-old-diesel-bus-engine-noise at 1m, rather than silence. More realistic, and it lowers the amount of padding required.
PUBLIC HEALTH BILLS ARE ESCALATING.
Why Are Helmets Mandatory For Motorcycle Users ?
Why Are Seat Belts Mandatory For Car Users ?
Re: HUH?
PROUD BLUETITS ON HORSEBACK CLEVERLY REFLECTED YOU? WTF IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?
PISSED OFF WITH BRUSSELS
I, for one, am SERIOUSLY pissed off with Brussels telling me what I can and cannot do. The sooner this weak, good for nothing Labour government, who pander to Brussels every whim, are democratically 'booted out' of office, the sooner the better. 'Loony Labour' have RUINED this once, proud country.
@EU decibel cap? Nope
There never was an EU decibel cap, but there was a French cap, which meant that the manufacturers couldn't be arsed to produce two (or more) different models according to local markets in the EU so they simply produced one with the decibel cap on all of them.
