Watching TV on your PC or mobile phone? Get a licence!

schoolfundraiser

[quote=ambyuk;6754026

I think it's ridiculous that people in this country have to pay to watch TV. In America there's no such thing. I wonder, if they changed it so you had to pay the license fee for the BBC channels (but could watch the rest free) - how much would viewership decline?[/quote]

I do think that the whole TV license thing should be reviewed now that we are all being forced to go digital at our own expense which requires either a new aerial and freeview box, connection to a cable service (if you are lucky enough to live where it is available) or a dish. I have used both cable digital and freeview and to be honest apart from the opportunity to watch programmes later in the week on the cable service I was far happier with an analogue service which didn't freeze, pixillate or do any of the other annoying things that a digital service does to the picture. Analogue cable was fine and I kept it as long as I possibly could. I am considering whether to give up TV altogether as I do find it hard to find programmes I haven't already seen. I am of course OLD and sorry but I'm afraid all I do is cringe at some of the stuff they are rerunning. Out of the context of the time they are truly dreadful.:eek:

Cantdance_2

So, ignoring the *other* legalities, :rotfl: I could technically cancel my sky subscription (I don't have a TV aerial), then hook my PC and router up to my LCD and use it to watch TV content which I download from the internet.

And because I wouldn't be able to watch any TV as it was being broadcast, I could quite happily watch any TV programmes I desired, commercial free, without the need for a TV licence?

:j

Obviously, I'd need to be prepared to face whatever consequences might arise from downloading content from less than official channels.

JMartin

Clearly there are copyright implications although the crime is then commited by the person who copies the content and not the person who watches it....I suppose you are right Cantdance but really, if you want to watch TV wouldn't it be easier to have a licence?

Defiant_3

AlanUdale wrote: »

I had a big 6 foot satellite dish in my garden which was motorised and I was picking up english TV being broadcast from america into europe and another sat broadcasting english TV into europe I was still taken to court for not having a license although I watched no english TV as I had no aerial.

The judge was on a good day I had to pay for a licence and was fined £70.

They don't just slap you with a fine so you must have spoken to a TV Licence inspector (Capita) and let them into your house which of course gives them everything they need. You shouldn't have had anything to do with them and you would never have ended up in court because even those scumbags need proof

www.tvlicenceresistance.info

Defiant_3

mdean wrote: »

What drivel - The BBC is run by the BBC trust - formerly the governors- completely independent and trusted all over the world.

It's a state Broadcaster because it's paid for by the state so it isn't independent and it isn't respected all over the world although those who love it believe that!

mdean wrote: »

We get better TV all round because of the licence fee.

It always amazes me how the fans of the mighty BBC TV Licence speak like they talk for everyone when every single poll shows the majority want rid of it

https://www.tvlicenceresistance.info

DUKE

I too believed that the TV licence was a rip off, and thought that it would be a better idea to pay as you view. However, a decade later I'm not so sure as it will cost a lot more than a the price of a TV licence to pay and view.

browserd

I havent paid for one in years, I get letters saying they are taking me to court, I reply I dont use my tv to watch broadcast shows, its for DVD use only. They reply you still need to buy one, and they will send out a officer, I reply please do as long as he has a warrant to enter my property, he will gain access otherwise he wont. I then went on to say, its not up to me to prove I dont watch broadcasted shows, thats upto you. I do have a ariel on my roof however I am renting the property from a private landlord and its not my ariel, of which i have stated this. I use pc however i am picking mums broadband up from accross the street, so if i do give them access I will simply unplug the wireless usb adaptor and say, look "...no connection" This has been goin on for years, I have now come to the point where a letter does arrive asking for payment i simply return the letter with a quote on envelope saying, check your records. They are also harrassing a friend of mine who doesnt watch tv, he only uses it for dvd use and he is been called every few days, he simply hangs up on them. Is there a company which moderates these types of harrassment? if so id like to know.l

phagras

IANAL but I've had a look on the statute law database. The relevant law is The Communications (Television Licensing) Regulations 2004
and this is the relevant bit from Schedule 1:

(c) for the use anywhere of any television receiver powered solely by its own internal batteries by the licensee or by a person normally living with the licensee at the specified location.

It is quite clear that you must have a license at your home to be able to use a battery powered TV receiver provided you do not plug it into the mains. So you will be acting illegally if you use a laptop or mobile as a TV receiver if you do not have a license.

TV Licensing here agree with that except that they add this:

• You have not installed it (e.g. connected it to an aerial or plugged it into the mains) to receive TV; and

Statute law only mentions how the TV receiver is powered, no mention of an aerial or 'installation'. There might be case law perhaps, but I can't find any mention online.

bhebbes

One big issue will be the definition of "receiving (whether by means of wireless telegraphy or otherwise) any television programme service".
Suppose you access (but not download) a TV programme not recorded by you and stored on a remote server. Does this constitute "receiving" it? If so, every computer that uses the internet will need a licence, as they are all capable of it. Declaring failure to comply criminal surely risks infringing the Freedom of Information Act. Perhaps we'll reach a more satisfactory state where those who want to pay, plus the don't knows, will pay, while the apparatchiks lose the ability to force the refuseniks to pay. One less "offer you can't refuse" might even be an improvement.

• (Meanwhile results of the last poll show a clear majority agreeing that "if BBC1 did not exist, it would not be necessary to invent it".)

pcg2001

bhebbes wrote: »

One big issue will be the definition of "receiving (whether by means of wireless telegraphy or otherwise) any television programme service".
Suppose you access (but not download) a TV programme not recorded by you and stored on a remote server. Does this constitute "receiving" it? If so, every computer that uses the internet will need a licence, as they are all capable of it. Declaring failure to comply criminal surely risks infringing the Freedom of Information Act. Perhaps we'll reach a more satisfactory state where those who want to pay, plus the don't knows, will pay, while the apparatchiks lose the ability to force the refuseniks to pay. One less "offer you can't refuse" might even be an improvement.

• (Meanwhile results of the last poll show a clear majority agreeing that "if BBC1 did not exist, it would not be necessary to invent it".)

Hi, just got one of those OFFICIAL WARNING letters this morning and after reading through the 4 pages of this thread, I was pretty sure I did not need a TV Licence.

Instead of saying what I don't have, I'll just say I only have a laptop with internet access (so I CAN watch tv programmes via stream, which I do rarely to watch newsnight) - no tv reception whatsoever on this computer. And a radio. Do I need to pay TV License?

This post by bhebbes managed to confuse me... I do watch the odd (once every 2 weeks) newsnight, but on the following day. If this requires a tv licence, then no more newsnight for me.