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Not Able To Receive Any TV Signal - Do I need TV License

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Comments

  • Cornucopia
    Cornucopia Posts: 16,603 Forumite
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    TVL's working principle is that you (only) need a licence if you actually watch or record TV from "live" broadcasts.

    This includes live TV streams over the Internet.

    Whilst this isn't a completely accurate statement of the law, it's good enough for most purposes.
  • Yeah but TV Licence can't prove you have watched anything online...

    TV Licence is just a game of concious. If you are happy to not pay it and watch TV online, you save £142.50 a year.

    If you took that statement from their website literally, then everyone who has an internet connection (no matter how slow) would have to pay... but they don't.

    That's not really any different to tax evasion and benefit fraud, but if everyone follows suit society tends to grind to a halt.
  • VisionMan
    VisionMan Posts: 1,585 Forumite
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    Yeah but TV Licence can't prove you have watched anything online...

    No. But your ISP can...
  • Cornucopia
    Cornucopia Posts: 16,603 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    In practice, there's no evidence that TVL use ISP data pro-actively.

    They have summonsed information from Service Providers for existing evasion cases, though.
  • Cornucopia
    Cornucopia Posts: 16,603 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    jack_pott wrote: »
    That's not really any different to tax evasion and benefit fraud, but if everyone follows suit society tends to grind to a halt.

    I think there was some vagueness in the original post, but I would not assume evasion, necessarily.

    The whole problem here is the attitude of the BBC in its enforcement task. LLF people sit in their homes doing nothing wrong, and are subject to all manner of harassment from TVL.

    As far as I am concerned, the message to them is this: clean up your act, and we can talk in a civilised fashion. If you come to my home or write to me with a bad attitude, it's going to get you nowhere.
  • VisionMan
    VisionMan Posts: 1,585 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Cornucopia wrote: »
    In practice, there's no evidence that TVL use ISP data pro-actively.

    They have summonsed information from Service Providers for existing evasion cases, though.

    Not now, no. But with all the services moving more and more towards IPTV, they will do imo.
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