I don't want to pay my TV licence but keep my tv as a monitor

Mutton_Geoff

You will find lots of posts from people claiming to know the answer - and regrettably lots of them, INCLUDING this one are wrong ! You do not need a TV licence to "install" a television unless there is "intent" to watch live programmes on it and you can "use" it as described below.

How can I be wrong? I copied the law from the Communications Act. It clearly says

"A television receiver must not be installed or used unless the installation and use of the receiver is authorised by a licence under this Part."

It doesn't say "must not be installed AND used .."

And as I said, only a court of law can interpret the law, people would be fools to accept legal advice from an internet forum however convincing or vocal the poster was.

Andy_L

Mutton_Geoff wrote: »

How can I be wrong? I copied the law from the Communications Act. It clearly says

"A television receiver must not be installed or used unless the installation and use of the receiver is authorised by a licence under this Part."

It doesn't say "must not be installed AND used .."

Because you only looked at one line of the act. Look at para 368(1) & you'll see that "television receiver" is specified elsewhere. Considering that, as per nickcardwells link in post 3, that as "You do not need a TV Licence if you only use your TV to watch videos and DVDs" that specification excludes TV sets only used for DVDs/games

fiddiwebb

I agree with Mutton Geof

Take this as an example, according to the tvlicensing.co.uk they say:

Do I need a TV Licence?

You need a TV Licence to use any television receiving equipment such as a TV set, digital box, DVD or video recorder, PC, laptop or mobile phone to watch or record television programmes as they're being shown on TV.

If you use a digital box with a hi-fi system or another device that can only be used to produce sounds and can't display TV programmes, and you don't install or use any other TV receiving equipment, you don't need a TV Licence.

It's all down to interpretation of the law, would you like to put it to the test?

roddydogs

adaze wrote: »

:silenced: Ditto to that. Disabling, or removing your input sky/aerial/whatever would mean that you cannot actually receive any TV signals, so you could have a million TV's in there and you would still be compyling with TVL wishes.

IMHO you don't need to remove the aerial or do anything at all, it is up to TVL to prove you are watching TV, which I (believe) they have never been able to do succesfully in court.....

So all us "Mugs" who pay a licence fee need only to remove the aerial from its socket when we have a knock on the door, and we dont need to buy a license?

fiddiwebb

The OP could sell their TV if they never intend to watch transmissions again and purchase a monitor which is not capable of recieving a broadcast signal to use for their Wii & PC.

pinkkaz

roddydogs wrote: »

So all us "Mugs" who pay a licence fee need only to remove the aerial from its socket when we have a knock on the door, and we dont need to buy a license?

Only if you want to break the law.

The OP isn't intending to break the law now, he's not going to watch TV.

fiddiwebb

#17

It depends how you defineI hardly spend anytime watching tv now

bella2121

I must remind myself not to comment on any thread about tv licensing in future, as no one takes any advice on board and they all end up doing is getting very aggressive and rude!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mutton_Geoff

bella2121, we are grateful for your posts, but you say you simply worked for the TVL. I assume you weren't responsible for setting policy, involved with the legislation that is the Communications Act 2003 nor represented the TVL in the prosecution of people in breach of the act?

I work for a very large well known company but I would never come onto an internet forum and make comments about my interpretation of their corporate policies simply because that's all they'd be .. my interpretations.

People here are discussing issues about operating very close to the line of the law and looking for loopholes (as they do in the stamp duty/council tax/tax on rental income threads etc etc). The law is clear, and if it isn't it will be decided by people who have the authority to decide. Martin's forum isn't that place but sadly many people seem to trust the words of complete strangers on an anonymous media.

As Robert Wilensky said "We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true."

Errata

Noel Edmonds is still refusing to buy a license ! And some people are still buying a license so they can watch him on the telly !