TV Licensing Law? Virgin TV Package but not watching any live TV

km1500

i never watch adverts i use a pvr and fast forward through them

oldernonethewiser

TD_Cat_Lover said:

Even if you have no TV and you just listen to the radio you need a licence. But how do they know whether you’re listening to BBC radio stations or others? They used to have to catch you doing it when they came round with their van and scanned what you were watching or listening to. So I can only assume if you’re just streaming then they have to prove you’re watching the channels the TV Licence pays for. They may have a new way of doing this and they would have to prove it in court.

There was discussions as to whether it be scrapped and the BBC have adverts instead. This day and age I don’t understand why they haven’t done this already. Would save everyone a lot of hassle.
 maybe someone at your local citizens advice could help you if you can’t get a definite answer in here that is. No offence intended I’m new. 

You don't need a licence to listen to any radio stations.

wongataa

km1500 said:

i never watch adverts i use a pvr and fast forward through them

Me too but the very act of having an ad break and needing to do that is a distraction to what ever it is that you are watching.  For some things it doesn't matter very much for other things it is much more preferable to not have any breaks in the first place.

cerebus

Heedtheadvice said:

Well I agree my post could have been better written. Guilty m'lud!

The point I am making is that the 'capability ' is clearly covered by the Act and defined by the Statutory Instrument in that you do not need to actually watch the live tv but just have the equipment (virtually any device) set up to enable watching of live tv such as connected (by whatever means), tuned to programme channels or have data stored to show this is the case.

 For fear of repeating that again I will not post that again.

I am not saying I agree with the definitions, that there are not several contradicting/unclear statements  but it remains a fact that those definition for need exist.

Thats still not right , my telly is tuned to digital telly so I can record programmes that doesn't mean I am watching live telly. As I am not watching live programmes do I need a licence? No

My laptop and phone are both capable of watching live programmes simply by typing an address into the address bar , do I need a tv licence? No

This analogy has already been covered by another poster above 

As I don't fancy repeating myself over and over , I think we simply need to agree to disagree and move on 

km1500

"Thats still not right , my telly is tuned to digital telly so I can record programmes that doesn't mean I am watching live telly. As I am not watching live programmes do I need a licence? No"

maybe I am misunderstanding you but if you are saying you are recording live TV to then watch it later by playing it back from the recorder then you still need a license to do that - recording counts as 'watching' !

cerebus

km1500 said:

"Thats still not right , my telly is tuned to digital telly so I can record programmes that doesn't mean I am watching live telly. As I am not watching live programmes do I need a licence? No"

maybe I am misunderstanding you but if you are saying you are recording live TV to then watch it later by playing it back from the recorder then you still need a license to do that - recording counts as 'watching' !

Yes you're right , I'm confusing myself now

As you might have noticed , I don't care about the tv licence, am not bothered whether or not I need one and have never had one my entire adult life and never will

In case you are wondering I've never had crapita goons at my house either , get letters every couple of years for a few weeks including those fake delivered by the postman and that's it 

oldernonethewiser

cerebus said:

km1500 said:

"Thats still not right , my telly is tuned to digital telly so I can record programmes that doesn't mean I am watching live telly. As I am not watching live programmes do I need a licence? No"

maybe I am misunderstanding you but if you are saying you are recording live TV to then watch it later by playing it back from the recorder then you still need a license to do that - recording counts as 'watching' !

Yes you're right , I'm confusing myself now

As you might have noticed , I don't care about the tv licence, am not bothered whether or not I need one and have never had one my entire adult life and never will

In case you are wondering I've never had crapita goons at my house either , get letters every couple of years for a few weeks including those fake delivered by the postman and that's it 

Does that mean you don't need one or just choose not to have one although actually needing one?

I am on my fourth year of the monthly letters from TVL although they did stop for a couple of months as COVID kicked in.  They have all been deliverd by Royal Mail, do you get other ones from elsewhere?

Cornucopia

This is a tricky question that comes up from time to time, and unfortunately, the answer is not particularly straightforward.

First off, do not take TVL's guidance as being a definitive statement of the law - it isn't, and they have a bad habit of over-simplifying things (in both directions).    It can usually be a reasonable guide, but it is not law and will not protect from prosecution, particularly with things that are at a lower level of detail than they specify.

I generally advise people without Licences not to have TV receiving equipment installed, and not to have pay TV subscriptions - both of those things can create legal liability even if they are never used.   Specifically, a pay TV subscription is one of the exacerbating factors in the sentencing guidelines.

I appreciate that that doesn't reflect the real world, where companies offer packages that are cheaper with a TV sub than without one, but the law doesn't care about that.

As discussed above, if the VM TV box isn't connected, it won't be a problem.   Unless they see a connected TV box or you tell them you have one, they are unlikely to request TV sub info from VM, and that will be that.

I don't know if the TV Box is required for watching on-demand content.  If it is, I think I'd probably be looking for an alternative TV service - one that is focused on streaming, not TV reception.

cerebus

oldernonethewiser said:

cerebus said:

km1500 said:

"Thats still not right , my telly is tuned to digital telly so I can record programmes that doesn't mean I am watching live telly. As I am not watching live programmes do I need a licence? No"

maybe I am misunderstanding you but if you are saying you are recording live TV to then watch it later by playing it back from the recorder then you still need a license to do that - recording counts as 'watching' !

Yes you're right , I'm confusing myself now

As you might have noticed , I don't care about the tv licence, am not bothered whether or not I need one and have never had one my entire adult life and never will

In case you are wondering I've never had crapita goons at my house either , get letters every couple of years for a few weeks including those fake delivered by the postman and that's it 

Does that mean you don't need one or just choose not to have one although actually needing one?

I am on my fourth year of the monthly letters from TVL although they did stop for a couple of months as COVID kicked in.  They have all been deliverd by Royal Mail, do you get other ones from elsewhere?

Let me put it this way I'm not going to spend my life stressing whether I need one or not regardless of how I digest moving pictures

I have had in the past had ones that look like they have been posted through the door by crapita but have actually been delivered by royal mail. These are a poor attempt to scare you into thinking you have had a visit.

Other than that I get the usual chain of letters every couple of years , it's got to the point where I know what the letter will say before I open it (if I bother) 

I always wonder when they will retire the name jane Jeffers as she has been working for tvl for a very long time.....

oldernonethewiser

I definitely don't stress over things I don't need but I do pay for the things I do need.  

A TV licence is not something I need or want.

I hope that people who do need one pay for it.

I have had two visits, in different homes, over the years.

Last one a chap came to the door and asked "Do you have a TV licence?"

Me - Nope

Him - Can I come in and check?

Me - Nope

And he went on his way.

Any future visit won't get the same lengthy engagement from me.