It's now legal to rip music files from CDs.
Yes, only just legal.
Despite being so established and mature a technology so as to be essentially obsolete, ripping audio from CDs you own has until now been technically illegal.
The decision comes after the publication of new guidelines on copyright by the UK Intellectual Property Office in March, which said that "you will be able to copy a book or film you have purchased for one device onto another without infringing copyright".
It's taken until now for those changes to come into law. But they have, and now you're free to rip to your heart's content.
Baroness Lucy Neville-Rolfe, IP Minister, said: "These changes are going to bring our IP laws into the 21st century. They will mean that the UK IP regime will now be responsive to the modern business environment and more flexible for consumers."
Some of the implications are a little absurd, given that they practices they concern have been so widespread for so long, but others are quite important. In particular is the decision to leave out mention of videogames - something that as Wired notes could end up creating a loophole for usage rights.