Can my son watch iPlayer at my home?

Cornucopia

bob_a_builder said:

Cornucopia said:

JohnSwift10 said:

FreeBear said:

Yes as long as he is running on batteries.

What if he is charging the laptop battery at the same time?

No.   The device has to be powered solely by its own internal batteries in order to qualify for this exemption.    

Content could be downloaded whilst powered by batteries, and then watched whilst charging.

BBC iPlayer no longer supports downloading 
There may be other methods but I wouldn't know about those, your honour

There are other methods.   Presumably they are legal (although they might be a breach of iPlayer terms, but then if you personally haven't agreed to those terms).   The law... it's complicated.

JohnSwift10

So it's the son using the fast internet to watch iPlayer.

I sometimes watch it at the same time and it isn't a Windows laptop.

Cornucopia

JohnSwift10 said:

So it's the son using the fast internet to watch iPlayer.

I sometimes watch it at the same time and it isn't a Windows laptop.

Technically, the exemption belongs to your son as the person covered by the Licence.   

It doesn't cover other third parties (you, in this case).

This is all quite deep in the licensing weeds, but if you want to remain totally legal then only your son can watch.   If you downloaded content, you would both be able to watch.

Olinda99

Cornucopia said:

The exact details from the TV Licensing website are these:-

If you are watching away from home on a device powered solely by its own internal batteries (i.e. it is not connected to an aerial or plugged into the mains) you will be covered by your TV Licence at your home address. 

https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/topics/what-does-your-tv-licence-cover

and the "plugged in" exact details (not mentioning batteries) are also from the tv licensing website

https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/topics/bbc-iplayer-and-the-tv-licence#

Cornucopia

Is there that much difference between "not plugged in" and "powered by its own batteries"?

There's a wordier "Ts & Cs" here...

https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/topics/terms-and-conditions-top11

Olinda99

no but it is interesting how they phrase it

battery implies powered by a fuel cell for example would be not be ok ( a fuel cell.is not a battery)

'not plugged in' would imply a fuel cell would be ok

if they are threatening to take people to court they should not be so sloppy

Cornucopia

Ah, okay.    I'm not sure we will ever know for sure.   I imagine that the exemption stems from the term "installed" in the legislation, and there may not be a legal definition of that.    

Richard019

On semantics I don't think the issue is how the laptop is powered, if it's connecting to the home internet then it's not the only device involved. The router which is plugged in would also also be a device being used in order to watch it.

He could tether it or use the mobile hotspot on his mobile phone, but that would defeat the point of using the fast internet connection

Cornucopia

Richard019 said:

On semantics I don't think the issue is how the laptop is powered, if it's connecting to the home internet then it's not the only device involved. The router which is plugged in would also also be a device being used in order to watch it.

He could tether it or use the mobile hotspot on his mobile phone, but that would defeat the point of using the fast internet connection

TVL don't really go by semantics, though.   If we're lucky, they state the basis for enforcement, as they do in this case (in fact the wording was printed on the paper Licences, when they had them).

It is as stated above, that the viewing device is required to be powered by its own internal batteries.   Since TVL do not mention the nature of the network connection, I would say Wifi was most likely, and wouldn't count as the device being "installed".