Japan's used electronics restrictions eased

About a month ago, I wrote about Japan's impending restrictions on the sale of electronic devices more than five years old. The new regulation, which is set to take effect April 1, allows the sale of such equipment only if the seller gets a special certificate verifying that the equipment meets the "Electrical Appliance and Material Safety Law" of 2001.

Via Engadget comes news from Mutant Frog (actually, from an anonymous commentor at Mutant Frog) that the Japanese government is easing the rules in response to public pressure. Certain vintage electronics related to music and photography, including guitar amps and electronic musical instruments, have been exempted from the testing and certification, and will only have to meet a simplified registration requirement:

According to the Mainichi Shinbum, the Japanese Synthesizer Programmers Association delivered a petition with 75,000 signatures to the PSE office, prompting their decision to reclassify musical equipment.

75,000 signatures to save vintage synthesizers! Jeez, how many synthesizer programmers are there in Japan?