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The article lays down the requirements for owning a licence very clearly, however the organisation (a company called Capita) which the BBC employs to maximise revenue from TV licences uses some rather heavy handed tactics in following its remit.
TV Licensing treats everyone who does not have a licence, for perfectly legal reasons or otherwise, as a criminal. Their current TV advert says, very menacingly, "we have a record of every house without a TV licence". The DVLA don't put out adverts saying "we have a record of every house without a driving licence". TV Licensing seem to turn the basic premise of English (and Scottish!) Law on its head, by saying that you are guilty until you prove your innocence.
Employees of TV Licensing have no legal powers whatsoever. Despite this they send out threatening letters referring to their "officers" and threats to interview you i.a.w. The Police & Criminal Evidence Act, it is all bluster. Some of it is almost libellous.
They have no right of entry to your house, you do not have to speak to them, if you tell them to leave your property, they must do so.
Remember - they have to prove that you are acting illegally - you don't have to prove to them that you are not. You do not have to give a reason for not having a TV licence either.
If you should have a licence buy one ! but don't put up with the bullying tactics of TV Licensing if you don't need one.
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I do not have Sky Television I do not pay for sky. Whether or not I watch BBC TV I have to pay for it. This is wrong i should have a choice. I have no say in the huge salaries paid to some people on TV.
The BBC is State Television used by Governments to control the public guardians of Royalty, Republicans are given no space on BBC. For years the BBC was controlled by the green book, the establishment decided what we should hear or see rather like Communist Soviet Union. Some of these control freaks are still around. Journalists don't complain they would all like to work for the BBC, a licence to print money.
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Interesting that Martin repeats the TV licensing site that a student will need a separate license if they plug their laptop onto an aerial.
It has always been a requirement to have a licence if you plug into the mains but the aerial is a new one and does not seem to be covered by any legislation
I have asked the TVL THREE times if this is new legislation and they have avoided answering merely quoting the mains connection
I suspect that this is just another example of them getting extra fees by confusing people
Interesting that Martin repeats the TV licensing site that a student will need a separate license if they plug their laptop onto an aerial.
It has always been a requirement to have a licence if you plug into the mains but the aerial is a new one and does not seem to be covered by any legislation
I think Martin & JimArnold may have fallen for TV Licensing's double speak. You can have your TV/laptop/DVDR/PC plugged into the mains (you definitely don't need a licence for that !) and/or an aerial and as long as you don't watch it (live) you don't need a licence. The wording on the TVL website is very confusing - deliberately so ?
This is a strange area now because you need a licence to watch live TV on a mobile phone. I think at one time there were exemptions for small battery powered devices, but with the pace of modern technology, how long before the mobile phone with a 42" screen appeared on the market ?
I Pay For My Licence By Direct Debit, My First 6 Months Were Double And Then Went Down. I Am Therefore 6 Months Ahead. I Have Moved House 3 Times Since Setting This Up And Each Time My Licence Has Just Been Transfered. I Asked Tv Licence When I Get Back The 6 Months They Are ''looking After'' For Me And They Said Either When I Cancel My Licence( Imposible As Is Illegal) Or When I Qualify For A Free One (when I'm 65) 38 Years Away. Can Anyone Work Out How Much Interest Bbc Are Earning On My 6 Month License For 38 Years And How Much I Am Losing Out On. Will I Even Remember In 38 Years That I Have Already Overpaid, Who Knows. But The Bbc Certainly Seem To Know What They Are Doing!!
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as long as you don't watch it (live) you don't need a licence.
Sorry to be a pedant, and I'm sure it was just an oversight but as long as you don't watch it or record it as it's being broadcast, you don't need the license.
Quote:
The wording on the TVL website is very confusing - deliberately so ?
Absolutely. I bet there are a pile of people who've been tricked into buying a license they don't need because of the dodgy wording on the website and the letters they send out. And even more who've been bullied into it by threats of fines and visits.
It's shocking that they're allowed to do this. It should be transparent. All the website needs to say is:
"Do I need a license?
You need a license if you watch or record television as it's being broadcast."
Is that so hard?
Quote:
This is a strange area now because you need a licence to watch live TV on a mobile phone. I think at one time there were exemptions for small battery powered devices, but with the pace of modern technology, how long before the mobile phone with a 42" screen appeared on the market ?
How big are your trousers?
It's not actually that crazy a thing to say, since they're developing devices the size of mobile phones with built-in video projectors. Just think how much fun public transport will be then, with neds projecting porn onto the ceiling...
They say it's genetic, they say he can't help it, they say you can catch it - but sometimes you're born with it
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Why is it that at least £2.41 of the monthly licence fee pays for Radio Stations & Websites, when the licence fee is paid for by TELEVISION USERS?!
I'm looking forward to the day that this unfair tax is scrapped. I NEVER watch or listen to anything the BBC produces, as I have Sky TV - however I still have to pay for it because I choose to use a television to watch programmes broadcast by other companies!
Public service my @rse......
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I pay quarterly... sorry but it works for me...and if you watch tv get a licence it's that simple it doesn't matter what you watch just that you are watching it...if I have to have one then so does everyone else ...don't delay get one today...
actually it really rattle's me when people say they haven't got one...there is just no need for it in this day and age....
Plans for 2009 1/ Get fit. 2/ Get my figure back. 3/ Get the MAN BACK! contrary to popular belief, I am all Woman.
I pay quarterly... sorry but it works for me...and if you watch tv get a licence it's that simple it doesn't matter what you watch just that you are watching it...if I have to have one then so does everyone else ...don't delay get one today...
actually it really rattle's me when people say they haven't got one...there is just no need for it in this day and age....
What there is no need for in this day and age is thugs threatening people
to get their BBC license protection money to keep a sick bunch of leftie
deviants in cocaine and rent boys. No nation with any pride remaining
would submit to this imposition.
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I would be quite happy to pay a license fee for all the freeview channels directly to the broadcaster rather than via the ads that fund commercial TV.
As for those who claim that they never watch or listen to anything broadcast by the BBC, I have a hard time understanding why anyone would choose to not watch something because it is on the BBC.
I choose the programmes I watch, not the channel.
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I would be quite happy to pay a license fee for all the freeview channels directly to the broadcaster rather than via the ads that fund commercial TV.
As for those who claim that they never watch or listen to anything broadcast by the BBC, I have a hard time understanding why anyone would choose to not watch something because it is on the BBC.
I choose the programmes I watch, not the channel.
I NEVER watch, listen or anything to anything the BBC broadcasts, I wish I could just subscribe to the BBC if you want to watch those channels, I think in this day and age we should be able to choose what we have to pay for with regards to the TV, I don't pay for the sky movies for example.
It's not that I choose to not watch anything BECAUSE it's on the BBC, it's because the BBC offers me nothing I wish to watch or listen to.
If it's a "TV Licence" then why doesn't the money goto all the channels instead of an out of date, out of touch TV company that spends money hand over fist on drivel. Maybe if they were supported by ads, then they'd be a bit more conservative with what they spend their money on.
I NEVER watch, listen or anything to anything the BBC broadcasts, I wish I could just subscribe to the BBC if you want to watch those channels, I think in this day and age we should be able to choose what we have to pay for with regards to the TV, I don't pay for the sky movies for example.
The logical extension of this is to pay for each programme, as there must be Sky programmes you are paying for but don't watch.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cogder
It's not that I choose to not watch anything BECAUSE it's on the BBC, it's because the BBC offers me nothing I wish to watch or listen to.
What on earth do you watch? The BBC has the broadest range of TV (and Radio) programmes of any broadcaster. I find it hard to believe that there is nothing that appeals to you.
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Pls be nice to all MoneySavers. There's no such thing as a stupid question, and even if you disagree courtesy helps. Take care over copyright. Use excerpts and links rather than copying long text. This site asserts copyright on all comments posted on the board.
Pls be nice to all MoneySavers. There's no such thing as a stupid question, and even if you disagree courtesy helps.
TV Licence article Discussion
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