Trick for students to still watch BBC iPlayer or live TV without a TV licence

AndyWernham

Yes - I don't think we will know for sure until it is tested in court. The TV licencing website mentions mains power cables and aerial connections but not Ethernet cables.

Cornucopia

The_Groat_Counter wrote: »

One would need to go and read the relevant legislation, and even then it wouldn't necessarily be definitive...

Good luck with that, I've never found anything remotely relevant.

... it's old law, written well before the time personal computing and internet technologies existed...

2003, so only marginally so. The definitions of TVs, reception, etc. are in a Statutory Instrument (which means that they can be easily updated without passing full legislation).

... so it could well be a matter of interpretation... ultimately, if a member of the public disagrees with TVL's interpretation then it'd be up to a court to decide.

I've always assumed that it came down to TVL's interpretation of one word from the legislation: "installed".

VisionMan

Hmmm...

I don't see anywhere that says WiFi REQUIRED !

Cornucopia

VisionMan wrote: »

Hmmm...

I don't see anywhere that says WiFi REQUIRED !

How do you mean?

If you're going to be watching TV on a laptop, tablet or phone then you are talking mainly about Wifi or Mobile data.

VisionMan

Oh for Christs sake, as Mary Berry always said, its about layers darling, layers. But sadly won't be saying that any longer. The TV licence couldn't afford it.

Cornucopia

Okay... still guessing...

Fortunately, the law spends most of its time detailing things that mustn't be done, not things that must. (The musts, IMHO, are much more intrusive than the mustn'ts).

Thus, there is no need for the Law to specify Wifi. It says (effectively) no aerial, no satellite and no cable TV - which is enough. Doing things this way gives a level of future proofing.

Don't worry about Bake Off - it's gone to a better place. And anyway, the BBC still has TV Licensing aka The Great British Fake Off.

VisionMan

Fake Off or.... never mind.

The fact remains that for the world class content available, along with the world class leading BBC iPlayer, unmatched by anything anywhere in the world, the TV licence quite simply represents the best value for money in the world.

Cornucopia

It's a pity the BBC and TVL can't operate honestly, then.

If it's as good as you say, why the need for subterfuge (in some areas where the law specifically precludes it)?

VisionMan

Ah, there your talking about the process, not the content. To which I defer to your superior knowledge!
A pity you missed the layers comment though, there were some subtleties in there.

Cornucopia

You're going to have to be a little less cryptic if we're going to engage in discussion.

I don't have a problem with the BBC producing some things extremely well. I recently watched The Night Manager (downloaded before 1 September), and it was excellent. I appreciate it was produced by a cabal of broadcasters, not just the BBC, but it was still good.

Unfortunately, the woes of Licence enforcement cover virtually every aspect of the operation. Not only that, but the BBC is ultimately responsible for every one of them, and is heavily implicated in its hoax nature. So, it's all very well talking about the quality and not the width, but it's actually both of them that form the overall service.

Obviously, as someone with no need of a Licence, this affects me personally, and although I am ultimately calm (even sanguine) about it, I do still want the BBC to get their tanks off my lawn. They have no right to be there, and they are scaring the peacocks.