T.V. Licensing

Author
Discussion

englisharcher

Original Poster:

1,607 posts

163 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
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We have decided to get rid of the t.v. Due to the amount of utter rubbish that they call programmes, the few shows we do watch, we can watch online.

We have removed the sky dish from the house, and cut the arial coax wire as far up as we can reach, will this suffice to prove we no longer receive t.v. transmissions in our house? Or do we need to remove the arial totally?

We will be keeping the t.v. as we connect the laptop and iPad to it, so we really want to be able to prove to the t.v. licensing people that they can shove there letters and threats.

zasker

550 posts

203 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
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I thought you still needed a licence as you have said you have internet so could watch BBC Iplayer.

tank slapper

7,949 posts

282 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
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You don't have any obligation to prove anything, and nor do you have to do anything to your equipment. If you aren't watching live TV, you don't need a licence so just stop buying one. Put their tedious letters in the bin, and tell the 'inspector' to go away if they bother to visit.

Matt106

383 posts

163 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
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zasker said:
I thought you still needed a licence as you have said you have internet so could watch BBC Iplayer.
You only need a license for live TV, Iplayer is fine smile

zasker

550 posts

203 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
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Ok, so you only need a licence if you are going to watch it on line at the same time as it is being broadcast?

tbc

3,017 posts

174 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
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I know a few individuals who have never had a TV licence

Unless the inspector actually sees through your window and catches you watching the TV red handed then they can't do anything


tokyo_mb

432 posts

216 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
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zasker said:
Ok, so you only need a licence if you are going to watch it on line at the same time as it is being broadcast?
Correct - see http://iplayerhelp.external.bbc.co.uk/help/playing...

AcidReflux

3,196 posts

253 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
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tank slapper said:
You don't have any obligation to prove anything, and nor do you have to do anything to your equipment. If you aren't watching live TV, you don't need a licence so just stop buying one. Put their tedious letters in the bin, and tell the 'inspector' to go away if they bother to visit.
Absolutely correct.

We haven't had a licence for 14 years. (Instead we watch DVDs and catch-up TV websites.)

Since we own two TVs and one ancient video recorder and our house has an aerial, I've examined the rules closely to make 100% sure we don't need a licence. The basic rule is: if you're receiving a live broadcast television signal via any method (aerial, satellite dish, Internet etc.) then you need a licence. Otherwise you don't.

It doesn't matter what equipment you own as long as you're not receiving live TV. It doesn't even matter whether the aerial lead is plugged into your TV! The onus is on the licencing authorities to prove that you're receiving a live broadcast signal, but if they come knocking you don't even have to let them in! They'll read you some sort of caution but they can do nothing without a warrant. (Maybe if they see you through the window watching TV then they can gather enough evidence to obtain a warrant but since we don't watch TV I haven't investigated this at all.)

They rely purely on their database and intimidation. I don't believe detector vans exist in the way they claim. You can expect to receive a threatening letter every month or two and you will be visited eventually. We got visited at our last house once in seven years but in our current house we haven't had a visit in the 8 years we've been here despite the threats.

My advice: ignore the letters; shut the door in the face of any 'enforcement officer' who calls round; enjoy the best of TV with none of the adverts or the dross, for free. Feel better about yourself and rediscover your evenings.

(The first thing everybody says to us when they find out we don't have TV is "Well, we hardly watch ours: there's nothing but crap on anyway!")

Mojooo

12,668 posts

179 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
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iPlayer live TV comes within the remit of a TV Licence.

It wouldnt surprise me if they start trying to track people down via IP addresses and so on that go to their houses for old style TVs.

Mill Wheel

6,149 posts

195 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
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I got my first threatening letter AT WORK in 2002, and they have never sent anyone round yet, despite the threats!
The last letter (to work) was in May 2010 (just before the world cup) to remind me that if any staff or customers watched live TV on any device (PC, Laptop or mobile) I had to purchase a license - and if nobody watched live TV on any device, I had to write and tell them!

I ignored it and still have not heard anything! hehe

CDP

7,454 posts

253 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
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AcidReflux said:
I don't believe detector vans exist in the way they claim.
They exist and they work.

daz3210

5,000 posts

239 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
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Mill Wheel said:
I got my first threatening letter AT WORK in 2002, and they have never sent anyone round yet, despite the threats!
The last letter (to work) was in May 2010 (just before the world cup) to remind me that if any staff or customers watched live TV on any device (PC, Laptop or mobile) I had to purchase a license - and if nobody watched live TV on any device, I had to write and tell them!

I ignored it and still have not heard anything! hehe
I wrote to them from work.

Got a letter back saying they would come and check we were telling the truth

supermono

7,368 posts

247 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
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CDP said:
They exist and they work.
He he and fairies live at the bottom of my garden.

Sadly in the days of the internet, "telling it like it isn't" doesn't work any more.

Oh, citation required, by the way.

SM

CDP

7,454 posts

253 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
quotequote all
supermono said:
He he and fairies live at the bottom of my garden.

Sadly in the days of the internet, "telling it like it isn't" doesn't work any more.

Oh, citation required, by the way.

SM
A client of mine built them and services their electronics. I'm not involved in making them work but I know the people who are and they certainly wouldn't get involved in any sort of charade.

The operators have to catch you watching TV to prosecute.

Do a search on the web and you'll find there's a community of people dedicated to trapping them who'll spend vast amounts of time, money and effort trying to defeat them. Their vehicle registration numbers get published quite frequently.

Personally I don't agree with the compulsory payment to the BBC though would happily pay two or three times as much for the same material on a subscription service. Millions do for Sky.

AcidReflux

3,196 posts

253 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
quotequote all
CDP said:
A client of mine built them and services their electronics. I'm not involved in making them work but I know the people who are and they certainly wouldn't get involved in any sort of charade.
That's very interesting - I'd be prepared to accept that detector vans exist if someone could demonstrate one working. But can anybody do this? It'd be so easy for the licencing authorities to remove any doubt from the skeptics simply by videoing their magic pixie vans in use, thereby strengthening the authorities' claims that detection is inevitable. So why don't 'they' do this?

I've never seen anybody provide a link to - for example - a demonstration of a detector van in operation. Could you or your client do this? Just to prove me wrong if nothing else smile

tank slapper

7,949 posts

282 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
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The principle behind TV detecting is sound. All radio receivers contain a local oscillator which is used to demodulate the received signal, and inevitably this leads to some leakage of the local signal, it being inadvertently radiated beyond the TV set either through poor shielding of the case or through the aerial. Depending on the design of the receiver, it may be possible to determine what frequency the receiver is tuned to.

The technique is mentioned in the book Spycatcher, as a way of determining whether agents were using a radio to receive clandestine messages. I'd be very surprised if this type of surveillance produced any evidence that would be usable in court though, since there are so many TV sets around that unless it happened to be an isolated building in the middle of nowhere there is every chance that the emissions could be coming from a variety of places. If it were a reliable and accurate technology, then there would be at least some record of it being used in prosecuting people. As I've never heard of a single case that involved evidence of that nature over the entire nearly 60 years of TV broadcasting I am more inclined to believe that either they don't have it, or it isn't sufficiently effective to be worth bothering with. It's far easier to knock on doors and send intimidating letters.

caziques

2,567 posts

167 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
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Also see http://www.bbctvlicence.com/ for more information.


W124Bob

1,744 posts

174 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
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Don't forget you will now need a radio license if you have radios includes cars,It's only live TV which reqiures a license however this covers any device capable of rceiving live broadcasts so I assume thats phones aswell.Be prepared for letters from the authorities.

streaky

19,311 posts

248 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
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Check out "Wim van Eck". Clever guy. I met him in '85.

Streaky

tank slapper

7,949 posts

282 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
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W124Bob said:
Don't forget you will now need a radio license if you have radios includes cars,It's only live TV which reqiures a license however this covers any device capable of rceiving live broadcasts so I assume thats phones aswell.Be prepared for letters from the authorities.
You don't need a radio (receiving) licence and haven't done for many years. You only require a licence for watching live TV broadcasts regardless of how they are transmitted, be it via radio or the internet. Portable TVs (and that would include a phone or laptop) that run off batteries are covered under your home licence, but again you only need one if you are using it for that purpose. Merely owning a phone that has the capability to watch live TV is not enough to require a licence.