TV Licensing

will-in-estoril

Swan wrote: »

that makes sense
the rules have been the same since I had a licence-free period 6-7 years ago & investigated the legality of still using my telly for DVDs & gaming, so those are all I've ever known

the name should have been changed at the same time, Television Licence is very misleading, it was appropriate in the days when you couldn't do anything else with your telly other than watch broadcasts, but certainly isn't so nowadays

but I guess it suits the BBC to have people buying licences even if they don't need them

By the same token this thread should not be in the Digital TV section; as it is about avoiding a tax it should really be in the Cutting Tax forum.

Swan_2

will-in-estoril wrote: »

By the same token this thread should not be in the Digital TV section; as it is about avoiding a tax it should really be in the Cutting Tax forum.

if it bothers you so much I think you need to address the OP about that issue

will-in-estoril

Swan wrote: »

if it bothers you so much I think you need to address the OP about that issue

Amuses (or is it bemuses?) rather than bothers!

Swan_2

will-in-estoril wrote: »

Amuses (or is it bemuses?) rather than bothers!

excellent! like you I find MSE vastly entertaining ... & informative

will-in-estoril

Swan wrote: »

excellent! like you I find MSE vastly entertaining ... & informative

Absolutely! Not least the fact that there are so many folk who have obviously spent hundreds of £s investing in the latest technology yet will go to the nth degree to avoid paying the equivalent of 40p a day (less than the Daily [STRIKE]Hate[/STRIKE] Mail).

What is even more laughable is that we have the best public broadcasting company in the world, envied by rest of the world. If we had to rely on $ky, or, goodness forbid, its cousin Fox, I might be able to stop being so bemused (or amused.)

Eric_Pisch

will-in-estoril wrote: »

Absolutely! Not least the fact that there are so many folk who have obviously spent hundreds of £s investing in the latest technology yet will go to the nth degree to avoid paying the equivalent of 40p a day (less than the Daily [STRIKE]Hate[/STRIKE] Mail).

What is even more laughable is that we have the best public broadcasting company in the world, envied by rest of the world. If we had to rely on $ky, or, goodness forbid, its cousin Fox, I might be able to stop being so bemused (or amused.)

we could have 24/7 X Factor !!! or Im a loser get me out of here !!!

I can feel myself becoming more stupid just at the idea :mad:

Swan_2

will-in-estoril wrote: »

Absolutely! Not least the fact that there are so many folk who have obviously spent hundreds of £s investing in the latest technology yet will go to the nth degree to avoid paying the equivalent of 40p a day (less than the Daily [STRIKE]Hate[/STRIKE] Mail).

that is an excellent point

however licence evasion & not actually needing a licence are two quite different issues

if the licence in its present form were to be scrapped & BBC became subscription based, I wonder what the take-up would be? :think:
would a lot of the people who decry the BBC now, actually miss it once it was unavailable to them?
are there many who do watch broadcasts but don't watch anything at all produced by the BBC?


I'm just playing devil's advocate here I'm not a big telly viewer

Ravenscroft_2

The offence is "using" a TV without a licence. Bit like "driving" without a licence. They have to prove that you are "using", then you have to prove that you have a licence. The police have to prove that you were driving, then you have to show them a licence. The burden of proof is only reversed once they get past that first base.
Just don't let them in. Innocent until proven guilty. Would you say to a PC who knocked on your door "please come in and have a look at my stolen tellY?"

will-in-estoril

Ravenscroft wrote: »

Would you say to a PC who knocked on your door "please come in and have a look at my stolen tellY?"

If I am following your analogy correctly you are advocating, or are at least sympathetic to, evasion, which is not what Moneysavingexpert.com is about.

Swan_2

Ravenscroft wrote: »

The offence is "using" a TV without a licence. Bit like "driving" without a licence. They have to prove that you are "using", then you have to prove that you have a licence. The police have to prove that you were driving, then you have to show them a licence. The burden of proof is only reversed once they get past that first base.
Just don't let them in. Innocent until proven guilty. Would you say to a PC who knocked on your door "please come in and have a look at my stolen tellY?"

the offence is not ... "using" a TV without a licence

you can 'use' your telly for all sorts of things & you don't require a licence, eg you can watch DVDs, play games, watch home videos, look at your photographs

what you mustn't do without a licence is use it to 'watch or record TV as it's being broadcast. This includes the use of devices such as a computer, laptop, mobile phone or DVD/video recorder'