Discussion
OK, so...
I don't have a television at home. I'm rarely at home as I work away, but every time I return, I am welcomed by a barrage of angry letters threatening court appearances.
I've never responded, so they are all addressed "To the legal occupier". Where do I legally stand?
I understand the payment is enforced by Captiva (a civilian private company), but correct me if I'm wrong here.
How can they get away with sending harassing letters, demanding to payment for a television, or entry in to my home to check that I'm not reviving a signal!?
Surely, the equivalent would be that if I started my own radio station, I would enforce my £145 / year subscription fee to any and all of those who my signal reached? And should you dare to disobey my angry letters, or deny my downright rude staff entry into your house to check you can't recieve my signal, I'll blindly send out very angry letters threatening fines of £1k, or prosecution!!
Surely this is surely not legally enforceable!?
I don't have a television at home. I'm rarely at home as I work away, but every time I return, I am welcomed by a barrage of angry letters threatening court appearances.
I've never responded, so they are all addressed "To the legal occupier". Where do I legally stand?
I understand the payment is enforced by Captiva (a civilian private company), but correct me if I'm wrong here.
How can they get away with sending harassing letters, demanding to payment for a television, or entry in to my home to check that I'm not reviving a signal!?
Surely, the equivalent would be that if I started my own radio station, I would enforce my £145 / year subscription fee to any and all of those who my signal reached? And should you dare to disobey my angry letters, or deny my downright rude staff entry into your house to check you can't recieve my signal, I'll blindly send out very angry letters threatening fines of £1k, or prosecution!!
Surely this is surely not legally enforceable!?
To me and my simple view on this (and possibly more than just a fraction closed minded and cynical)...
It's absolutely BONKERS!
I'm absolutely not letting anyone in my home, and they can absolutely shove their threats where the sun doesn't shine.
And even if there IS reasonable suspicion, surely it's a civil matter. It's not MY fault that they (whomever "they" might be) blindly broadcast an unencrypted signal for everyone to see, then automatically charge me for the privilege...
Boils my piss!
It's absolutely BONKERS!
I'm absolutely not letting anyone in my home, and they can absolutely shove their threats where the sun doesn't shine.
And even if there IS reasonable suspicion, surely it's a civil matter. It's not MY fault that they (whomever "they" might be) blindly broadcast an unencrypted signal for everyone to see, then automatically charge me for the privilege...
Boils my piss!
Riley Blue said:
Didn't the PM say recently that the 'loophole' was going to be closed and you'll need a TV licence to watch programmes after they've been transmitted live?
So what you're saying is.... everyone with a smart phone, tablet, laptop, desktop computer, games console or Internet connection (or any combination of the above), you'll need a TV licence? Because if you own any of them, you could watch catch up programmes? Well, that escalated quickly!
Not sure what I thought would happen, but there you go.
To be fair, I guess I was just a little bit annoyed that the TV licence hired heavies kept sending me s
t. It doesn't keep me up at night, and should anyone (although it's HIGHLY unlikely) call while I am home, I would have no trouble politely asking them to vacate my premises - they were not invited, and have no business to attend at my property.
Very UN-Pistonheads - no violence, death-threats, murder, frozen sausages or 6'9'' powerfully built Ferrari-driving company directors here!
No rhetoric or quasi-freeganist speech from me either. All I want is to be not harrassed! And yeah, I bring a percentage of that by NOT communicating with them. But even still, it isn't a great business proposal to send out very cleverly worded letters, which, to the un-initiated, un-intelligent, or ill-informed, would seem to be a pre-runner for a court summons. Scary stuff!
Had it been less malicious - even from the start - I may have called or wrote in response. However, with red-inked letters demanding(!!!!!) that I let their inspectorate in to my home to pry into my personal life, down to my own corn hole (or so it would seem) for un-licensed broadcast-viewing devices..... Stuff 'em!
Not sure what I thought would happen, but there you go.
To be fair, I guess I was just a little bit annoyed that the TV licence hired heavies kept sending me s
t. It doesn't keep me up at night, and should anyone (although it's HIGHLY unlikely) call while I am home, I would have no trouble politely asking them to vacate my premises - they were not invited, and have no business to attend at my property. Very UN-Pistonheads - no violence, death-threats, murder, frozen sausages or 6'9'' powerfully built Ferrari-driving company directors here!
No rhetoric or quasi-freeganist speech from me either. All I want is to be not harrassed! And yeah, I bring a percentage of that by NOT communicating with them. But even still, it isn't a great business proposal to send out very cleverly worded letters, which, to the un-initiated, un-intelligent, or ill-informed, would seem to be a pre-runner for a court summons. Scary stuff!
Had it been less malicious - even from the start - I may have called or wrote in response. However, with red-inked letters demanding(!!!!!) that I let their inspectorate in to my home to pry into my personal life, down to my own corn hole (or so it would seem) for un-licensed broadcast-viewing devices..... Stuff 'em!
Hackney said:
Others may make better sports coverage but is that available as "free to air"? No. It isn't.
Subscription channels have outbid the BBC for several sports and then pass on that cost to their subscribers in either higher charges, new charges or pay per view.
The funny thing is, this doesn't get mentioned by the anti-BBC licence lot. They moan and moan about having to pay a subscription, then go off to watch Super Sunday on their 42 inch plasma having paid the equivalent to the annual licence fee in under 8 weeks.
Instead of bhing about the licence, screaming "but I don't watch live TV" or moaning about big brother sending you the odd letter until you're blue in the face just pay the bloody licence fee and STFU
Jeez... you wake up on the wrong side of your cage today or something? Ha!Subscription channels have outbid the BBC for several sports and then pass on that cost to their subscribers in either higher charges, new charges or pay per view.
The funny thing is, this doesn't get mentioned by the anti-BBC licence lot. They moan and moan about having to pay a subscription, then go off to watch Super Sunday on their 42 inch plasma having paid the equivalent to the annual licence fee in under 8 weeks.
Instead of b
hing about the licence, screaming "but I don't watch live TV" or moaning about big brother sending you the odd letter until you're blue in the face just pay the bloody licence fee and STFUI started this whole topic because I was a little steamed about some aggressive letters I got through the mailbox, more as a s
t rant than anything else. Well, that, and to actually make sure I wasn't breaking some rule or other which stated that I HAD to let enforcement agency in to my home. Which now I'm beyond confident that I don't. Just about the only programmes on the Beeb that I'd actually watch are QI, the F1 (although C4 / Sky have this now) and Top Gear (the old codgers have moved to Amazon, waiting to see the new series). So, I'm going to pay £150/year to watch what? Nowt now! So no, I think I'll be giving that a miss.
To those that have Sky / Virgin / other subscription TV service, it's unlucky that you have to pay the licence on top. But as a serious question - if you are paying for a subscription service, why do you have to pay for a licence? Surely the network operator should pay the Gov't to air it directly, leaving you only with their subscription? Bah, common sense has no place that high up in the food chain!
Finally - to the geezer (or girl!) who complained about the SS or Nazi's or whatever.... WHAT?! This is a few quids to a perfectly legal company to watch TV. Not exactly comparable to the atrocities that were committed when their illustrious leader tried to wipe out an entire race from Europe is it? So naturally, because I am an adult, my response is proportional and appropriate - I don't need to demonstrate, rally and whip the masses into an up-rising over that do I!
Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff