Since this entry has just gone up on boingboing, I thought I should clarify a couple of points.
Firstly, when the BBC told me they couldn’t play mp3s, I asked them if they meant technically or legally – they replied saying it was technical reasons that prevented it. I didn’t enquire any further, but in my experience as a listener to the John Peel show, I’ve heard him use several different studios (including his own house ‘Peel Acres’) so perhaps some of them are less well equipped. It does seem odd that Radio 1 isn’t tooled up to deliver mp3s.
Secondly, as I’ve mentioned in one of the writebacks below, when I said John e-mailed me I meant the John collective; it was one of his colleagues that I was talking to. I’m sure you can allow me a little artistic license in the re-telling of this story.