E-mails and letters from TV Licensing about iPlayer

mrochester

Is this not simply a case of the email address used to declare no license needed is the same email address used to login to and watch iPlayer?  

Cornucopia

mrochester said:

Is this not simply a case of the email address used to declare no license needed is the same email address used to login to and watch iPlayer?  

Basically, yes.   The issue is that whilst the email address may be the same, the street address/physical location may not be.

Also, BBC-TVL are buying data from a commercial third party which ties email addresses and street addresses, but it's unclear how reliable that is.

mrochester

Cornucopia said:

mrochester said:

Is this not simply a case of the email address used to declare no license needed is the same email address used to login to and watch iPlayer?  

Basically, yes.   The issue is that whilst the email address may be the same, the street address/physical location may not be.

Also, BBC-TVL are buying data from a commercial third party which ties email addresses and street addresses, but it's unclear how reliable that is.

I wouldn’t expect the email address of a no license declaration to be usable in any location, regardless of whether that location of use was covered by a tv license or not. 

Jaybee_16

If you previously paid for the TV Licence by direct debit, make sure you cancel it. 

I cancelled my tv licence and went through the usual palaver of letters and emails but never cancelled the monthly DD. 

All fine until about 6 months later a random amount was taken from my bank account. Phoned the bank who said it was TV Licensing. Had the payment reversed and DD cancelled.

Cornucopia

mrochester said:

Cornucopia said:

mrochester said:

Is this not simply a case of the email address used to declare no license needed is the same email address used to login to and watch iPlayer?  

Basically, yes.   The issue is that whilst the email address may be the same, the street address/physical location may not be.

Also, BBC-TVL are buying data from a commercial third party which ties email addresses and street addresses, but it's unclear how reliable that is.

I wouldn’t expect the email address of a no license declaration to be usable in any location, regardless of whether that location of use was covered by a tv license or not. 

No - it's the iPlayer (account) that can be used anywhere, and that leads to the email address.

mrochester

Cornucopia said:

mrochester said:

Cornucopia said:

mrochester said:

Is this not simply a case of the email address used to declare no license needed is the same email address used to login to and watch iPlayer?  

Basically, yes.   The issue is that whilst the email address may be the same, the street address/physical location may not be.

Also, BBC-TVL are buying data from a commercial third party which ties email addresses and street addresses, but it's unclear how reliable that is.

I wouldn’t expect the email address of a no license declaration to be usable in any location, regardless of whether that location of use was covered by a tv license or not. 

No - it's the iPlayer (account) that can be used anywhere, and that leads to the email address.

Exactly. A person using email address A to declare they don’t need a license can’t then use email address A to watch iPlayer, anywhere. They’d need to use email address B (B being an email address of someone who is covered by a tv license). 

Cornucopia

mrochester said:

Cornucopia said:

mrochester said:

Cornucopia said:

mrochester said:

Is this not simply a case of the email address used to declare no license needed is the same email address used to login to and watch iPlayer?  

Basically, yes.   The issue is that whilst the email address may be the same, the street address/physical location may not be.

Also, BBC-TVL are buying data from a commercial third party which ties email addresses and street addresses, but it's unclear how reliable that is.

I wouldn’t expect the email address of a no license declaration to be usable in any location, regardless of whether that location of use was covered by a tv license or not. 

No - it's the iPlayer (account) that can be used anywhere, and that leads to the email address.

Exactly. A person using email address A to declare they don’t need a license can’t then use email address A to watch iPlayer, anywhere. They’d need to use email address B (B being an email address of someone who is covered by a tv license). 

Yes.   Or BBC TV Licensing could stop being silly about it.   

Either (a) stop matching emails to send enforcement letters unless/until the system can robustly identify possible offences, or (b) make it clear that having gone Licence-free you cannot subsequently use your iPlayer account in a Licensed location.

mrochester

Cornucopia said:

mrochester said:

Cornucopia said:

mrochester said:

Cornucopia said:

mrochester said:

Is this not simply a case of the email address used to declare no license needed is the same email address used to login to and watch iPlayer?  

Basically, yes.   The issue is that whilst the email address may be the same, the street address/physical location may not be.

Also, BBC-TVL are buying data from a commercial third party which ties email addresses and street addresses, but it's unclear how reliable that is.

I wouldn’t expect the email address of a no license declaration to be usable in any location, regardless of whether that location of use was covered by a tv license or not. 

No - it's the iPlayer (account) that can be used anywhere, and that leads to the email address.

Exactly. A person using email address A to declare they don’t need a license can’t then use email address A to watch iPlayer, anywhere. They’d need to use email address B (B being an email address of someone who is covered by a tv license). 

Yes.   Or BBC TV Licensing could stop being silly about it.   

Either (a) stop matching emails to send enforcement letters unless/until the system can robustly identify possible offences, or (b) make it clear that having gone Licence-free you cannot subsequently use your iPlayer account in a Licensed location.

Matching email addresses should be easy.  List a of no-license needed email addresses - list of email addresses logged in and using iPlayer. 

prowla

frugal_sharkey said:

Hi all, hoping somebody can offer some advice for me as I'm a bit concerned at the moment.

About 6 months ago I cancelled my TV license. I never really watch TV anyway, and I just generally don't want to be paying them anymore, so I submitted my No License Needed online and that was that. Or so I thought.

I received e-mails in my junk folder (so I did think they were not genuine) from TV Licensing saying "we notice you've been watching iPlayer" - after looking into the e-mails headers etc, I established that they are genuine. Then yesterday I received a letter through my door saying "Your No License Needed status will soon be cancelled" and then goes on to say that this has indeed been cancelled and that I now need to buy a TV License for my address.

Thing is, I haven't watched iPlayer at all, I am certain of it. Now I'm not sure if it was still logged in on my smart TV and my partner or her kids have clicked onto something when they've been round, but I have no reason to watch iPlayer! 

Now my question is, do I get back to them about this, or do I just ignore? I feel if it get in touch with them they will then demand I pay for the license. The letter goes on to say that "if we don't hear from you, your details will be passed to our enforcement division" and that there could be a fine of up to £1,000.

Obviously this is a concern, what is my best course of action here? 

Thank you

Well, if it is still in your smart TV and the family have been watching it, then you do need the licence.

I don't know what the situation is if the smart TV or other devices (inc. phones & tablets) still have the address configured and are somehow triggering acfcess without you actually watching anything; I think that the licence requirement says "watching" and therefore an automated sign-in alone would not meet that criteria.

As an aside, there was a separate thread recently as to whether someone visiting could login to your router from their portable device and not fall under your household's use; the answer was: if it is not plugged in.

The assumption there is that person should have their own licence.

Cornucopia

mrochester said:

Cornucopia said:

mrochester said:

Cornucopia said:

mrochester said:

Cornucopia said:

mrochester said:

Is this not simply a case of the email address used to declare no license needed is the same email address used to login to and watch iPlayer?  

Basically, yes.   The issue is that whilst the email address may be the same, the street address/physical location may not be.

Also, BBC-TVL are buying data from a commercial third party which ties email addresses and street addresses, but it's unclear how reliable that is.

I wouldn’t expect the email address of a no license declaration to be usable in any location, regardless of whether that location of use was covered by a tv license or not. 

No - it's the iPlayer (account) that can be used anywhere, and that leads to the email address.

Exactly. A person using email address A to declare they don’t need a license can’t then use email address A to watch iPlayer, anywhere. They’d need to use email address B (B being an email address of someone who is covered by a tv license). 

Yes.   Or BBC TV Licensing could stop being silly about it.   

Either (a) stop matching emails to send enforcement letters unless/until the system can robustly identify possible offences, or (b) make it clear that having gone Licence-free you cannot subsequently use your iPlayer account in a Licensed location.

Matching email addresses should be easy.  List a of no-license needed email addresses - list of email addresses logged in and using iPlayer. 

Technically easy enough (though the volume of data might be challenging).   The issue isn't that the process is technically unreliable (there's no suggestion of that), but that users of iPlayer can move around AND people with email addresses previously used to communicate about Licences may also physically move.  

It's not a robust way to identify offences, and as I said, they either need to be transparent about its limitations, or they need to stop doing it.