TV Licence article Discussion

castle96

NQ
perhaps YOU could put this letter together for our consideration......

Annabell55

If the TVLA says we need a licence to watch live tv what about all the repeats on live tv??? Do we have to pay for those..!!!!:D:D:D

Cornucopia

Annabell55 wrote: »

If the TVLA says we need a licence to watch live tv what about all the repeats on live tv??? Do we have to pay for those..!!!!:D:D:D

Not sure if this is a serious point or not, but I refer you posts #1376 and #1378.

There is no "TVLA", BTW. It's TV Licensing - it's not an authority, merely a brand name of the BBC (bit like Top Gear).

Cornucopia

castle96 wrote: »

NQ
perhaps YOU could put this letter together for our consideration......

I have various letters that could be put together to address the points NQ made. However, there's a slight question as to what the letter should say.

The main question is around WOIRA (withdrawing the right of access). Personally, I tend to suggest people don't do this, as TVL have in the past used it as partial justification in a search warrant application. (Though SWs overall are incredibly rare). There are two options (other than not doing it at all)....

1. Just ban Capita and G4S employees and self-employed TVL operatives (not BBC employees). In reality, there are only a handful of senior execs in the "BBC part" of TV Licensing, and it's unlikely that they would get off their posteriors to come and visit.

2. Cite Article 8 of the Human Rights Act (Right to Privacy). HRA is superior legislation, and the Communications Act cannot be read in contradiction with it, therefore exercising right to privacy in this context cannot be construed negatively with respect to justifying a search warrant.

Also, I would probably submit a complete schedule of charges to TVL. These may or may not subsequently be used in legal action, but they are there if needed.

I would use "Cease and Desist" with regards to the letters, which is a stronger form of words than just mentioning harassment.

Finally, some comment is probably required on TVL's usual insistence that these remedies cannot remain in place for more than 2 years.

Two options, again:

1. Acknowledge it and steal their thunder a bit.

2. Pre-empt it and assert the Law as it stands, which is that there is no time limit, and legal action may result if harassment restarts after the 2 year period.

Thunderballs_2

If you are stupid enough to let someone into your house who hasnt a warrant asking you about your TV viewing habbits, you deserve all you get.

These "Goons" lie and threaten when all you need to is tell them to leave.

If you were ever to have a warrant - these are not the 900 a day (the 900 a day are people that let the Goons in or admit an offence on the door step or are tricked into signing an admittance) You would only need to not have a TV showing live broadcasts on when they were there !

Simple.

The idea they have hand held detection is a joke. Being a house holder , the tenant etc is not an offence so they would have to have evidence of someone they wanted to prosecute actually committing an "offence" = sitting there watching live TV in full view. Curtains are cheap.

Thunderballs_2

nqtraderman wrote: »

Wouldn't it be a nice if MSE uploaded a correctly worded letter so anyone wishing to revoke their TV licence could print it out and send it to TVL informing them accordingly knowing that it had been checked and approved by MSE staff ?

Would be nice if it also included

1. a notice to withdraw Implied Right of Access to TVL staff and their sub/contractors
2. to put TVL on notice that receipt of more than 1 letter per year from TVL will be considered harassment
3. and finally to request a refund of monies owing on the TV licence from the date of this letter

Then its a uniform, consistent response to TVL.

Here is one .

" Dear BBC ,

I dont need a TV licence.

Signed ..



It isnt hard.

SYLVIAHORSMAN

can I watch recordings only free no licence?

PippaS

Have read conflicting answers on the internet about "Amazon Fire TV Sticks" and the need for TV license - please could someone advise. Thanks.

cw18

SYLVIAHORSMAN wrote: »

can I watch recordings only free no licence?

As long as they're not things you've recorded from live TV

I watch DVDs (and VCRs - yes I still own some of those and a machine to play them in ), and that's fine without a licence.

You need a licence to record a TV show, as that means you use live TV.

Cornucopia

PippaS wrote: »

Have read conflicting answers on the internet about "Amazon Fire TV Sticks" and the need for TV license - please could someone advise. Thanks.

The reason why there are conflicting opinions, is because the answer is complicated. Firstly, these devices are unlikely to be classified as TV Receivers under the Law, which limits the extent to which they could be examined in the event of TVL getting their hands on them.

However, the problem is (like many devices now) its basic features i.e whether it plays TV broadcasts or not is not determined by the end user. For example, my Youview box was nicely LLF-compliant without an aerial connection... until this week, when the BBC decided to add live streaming to the YV iPlayer app (for no apparent reason or benefit). A cynical person might say that it was in the BBC's self-interests to get iPlayer live streaming onto all the devices it possibly can... I couldn't possibly comment.

So... the way I see it is that with this class of device, if you don't watch live streams, you don't need a Licence. If you received a visit from a TVL operative, you could deny them access to the device, simply saying it was "computer-based" and therefore not accessible to TVL. That's easy with Chromecast, and perhaps less easy with Youview, with Amazon Fire Stick being somewhere in between.

Having said that, it could well be that some devious individual at BBC Towers is dreaming of a test case on this as I post.