Unless you have been ignoring the world for the past year or two, you should be aware of the existence of the selfie stick which is an accessory to help users snap self-portraits with their smartphone. It is a rather simple and generally harmless mobile accessory but somehow, the South Korean government has decided to crack down on sales of “uncertified” selfie sticks.
So, which selfie sticks are deemed as “uncertified”? Apparently, such selfie sticks are usually equipped with Bluetooth functionality which unsurprisingly is classified as communications equipment. Hence, products that are classified as such need to go through tests and certification processes before they can be allowed for sale to consumers. Nothing weird about the law though as it exists throughout the world; even Malaysia has it as well.
While the Malaysian government doesn’t seem to mind about these Bluetooth-equipped selfie sticks, the South Korean authorities apparently has begun to search for retailers that are selling such sticks. The sentence for the offence is quite hefty indeed, to the tune of a KRW 30 million (about RM 90,000) fine or prison time of up to three years.
[Source: The Korea Times, The Wall Street Journal. Image 1: Stephen Cannon. Image 2: Fumi Yamazaki. Both images used under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0]
