In South Korea, unregistered Bluetooth 'selfie sticks' could land the seller in prison
South Korea has stiff penalties for selling unregistered Bluetooth versions
Take care when brandishing a selfie stick in South Korea - it could land the person who sold it to you a three-year jail term.
Last week the country's science ministry announced new regulations targeting Bluetooth-enabled models that communicate remotely with smartphones to take photos.
Anyone selling an unregistered version could face a HK$27,000 fine or a stint in prison.
The problem, the ministry says, is that such gadgets are designated as communications equipment given their use of radio waves to provide a wireless link between separate devices. As such they have to be tested and certified to ensure they don't pose a disruption to other devices using the same radio frequency.
Luckily, the same rules do not apply in Hong Kong. A spokeswoman for the Office of the Communications Authority (OFCA) said: "Bluetooth radio devices are low-powered radio devices operating at specified frequency ranges. In general, it is unlikely that they would cause interference to other radio services.
"So far, OFCA has not received any reported case of radio interference caused by Bluetooth radio devices."
Regulating the sale of these small, articulated monopods designed for mobile phone wielding photographers won't be easy, given their numbers.