TV Licence article Discussion

Zapito

cw18 wrote: »

My radios are all tuned to a local commercial station. I'd be quite happy to have it hard pres-set to that one with no adjustment available. Like I said, I can't remember the last time I tuned to a BBC radio channel.

Wow! I almost admire you, I simply cannot imagine life without the wide and mostly excellent variety of radio broadcasting available from the BBC. I think I'd rather ditch the whole thing and live as a wild man, trapping animals for food in the woods. But it takes all sorts.

Oh, but I almost forgot. You do use catchup, don't you? For radio as well?

Oh no, you said you didn't. Near-admiration status therefore duly restored!

How do you cope with all that local radio advertising?

[Deleted User]

Zapito wrote: »

In which case I suggest that you direct your ire towards those who do cheat and lie to get BBC service for free, because it is they, rather than honest BBC users such as myself, who are the root cause of your problem.

No, his ire should be directed at the BBC, who have chosen to reverse some of the most basic tenets of British justice, namely:-

"innocent until proven guilty"

and

"the burden of proof rests with the prosecution, not the defendant".

The assumption that I am breaking the law, because others do, is ridiculous.

[Deleted User]

pandamoneum27 wrote: »

so I would caution anyone who tries not to pay the license that for this to work you need to get rid of your TV

Or, you could just not open the door, not answer their questions, not invite them in, and, above all, NOT SIGN THEIR FORMS.

This has served me well, for approaching five years.

[Deleted User]

Zapito wrote: »

I am somewhat bemused as to why you plugged it in just because he asked you to.

Likewise, why you invited him in?

[Deleted User]

Zapito wrote: »

I simply cannot imagine life without the wide and mostly excellent variety of radio broadcasting available from the BBC.

I can, and do.

Zapito

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

Zapito wrote: »

In which case I suggest that you direct your ire towards those who do cheat and lie to get BBC service for free, because it is they, rather than honest BBC users such as myself, who are the root cause of your problem.

No, his ire should be directed at the BBC, who have chosen to reverse some of the most basic tenets of British justice, namely:-

"innocent until proven guilty"

and

"the burden of proof rests with the prosecution, not the defendant".

The assumption that I am breaking the law, because others do, is ridiculous.

The BBC don't make the rules, and it is not the BBC that is annoying Cornucopia or making assumptions about him, it is the enforcement people, TV Licensing, who are doing that. The BBC simply makes and broadcasts programmes, using the money granted by govt edict, raised by the TV Licensing folk.

So Cornucopia is grumbling about them. But the only reason the TV Licensing people are so suspicious is that there really are people who break the licencing rules. If they were to stop doing that, then TV Licencing wouldn't need to try and catch them (because they wouldn't be doing it). So it is those people who Cornucopia should rightly berate, because it is their activity which is at the root of the grief he is experiencing. (IMHO)

[Deleted User]

Zapito wrote: »

The BBC don't make the rules, and it is not the BBC that is annoying Cornucopia or making assumptions about him, it is the enforcement people, TV Licensing, who are doing that.

The BBC is TV Licensing.

But the only reason the TV Licensing people are so suspicious is that there really are people who break the licencing rules.

Some people fish without a licence, but the NRA don't randomly knock at the door of people who don't hold rod licenses, on the off chance they are fishing without a licence.

Likewise, some people drive without a licence, but the DVLA don't randomly knock at the door of people who don't hold driving licenses, on the off chance they are driving without a licence.

Zapito

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

The BBC is TV Licensing.



Some people fish without, but the NRA don't randomly knock at the door of people who don't hold rod licenses, on the off chance they are fishing without a licence.

Likewise, some people drive without a licence, but the DVLA don't randomly knock at the door of people who don't hold driving licenses, on the off chance they are driving without a licence.

Write to your MP.

[Deleted User]

Zapito wrote: »

Write to your MP.

You're kind of missing the point.

Other organisations (even the police) don't randomly knock on people's doors, wanting to search their homes, on the off chance they might find evidence of lawbreaking.

beerleo

I have always been a big fan of the BBC in the UK but I have recently come to realise that, consciously or unconsciously, the BBC is the propaganda machine of the British 'Establishment', not the political establishment, the British Establishment! It is run predominently by the 'Establishment', presented by the 'Establishment', and much of it is for the 'Establishment'. I think It solves the mystery, Steven Fry, of how the Public schoolboys have maintained their power for so long. It is how they control the 'Masses' and keep them subtly conditioned into thinking they must aspire to become 'posh', e.g., Listen to Radio 4 , like them, or continue to feel inferior, i.e., 'to know their place'. The British class system is alive and well thanks to the BBC. I spend 6 months of the year abroad and you would not believe what they broadcast, IN OUR NAME, on the BBC World News. It is so elitist and 'wealth' obsessed that it seems to be the total opposite of Aljazeera's excellent coverage, and with which, I am sure, the BBC has given up competing. The BBC World News channel makes me cringe and feel ashamed to be British because it gives the World a totally distorted view of Britain and Britishness in all it's glorious diversity. It certainly does not represent me! The politically correct ethnic mix of BBC World News presenters is so posh when they open their mouths that it makes me want to puke. And do not think that the BBC World News is the same as the Freeview channnel 130-BBC News 24. It is not. Just take a look at the World News schedule of 'Business News' this and 'Business News' that, and 'The Bottom Line', etc. and you will see that in it's obsession with economics it should really be a 'Money' programme like Bloomberg etc. It really amounts to no more than a service for British businessmen abroad. Also for some strange reason 'Auntie' deems that their half decent documentaries are only shown at weekends. And the BBC does advertise! The BBC World News advertises luxury services and products, and sometimes uses what amounts to product placement with documentaries about the products/services being advertised during that documentary. Though not in the political sense, I actually think that the BBC World News is as bad as Fox News in its narrowness of focus. I think the BBC has had to become much more diverse in the UK over the years only because it was forced to compete with ITV etc. Recent changes in my local BBC Radio have also made me become thoroughly sick of having the 'minority' of British 'posh people' shoved down my throat by the BBC. So much so that Im beginning to understand how Scottish people feel about the English, and if I was Scottish, to be honest, I think that I would vote for independence just to escape this narrow minority British elitist rule. Dont get me wrong, I personally have nothing against 'posh' people. They have their place, as we all do, but I do not want them shoved down my throat 24 hours a day and controlling British life to the extent they do. This must be bad for democracy and is stunting the growth and development of a healthy society. So in conclusion, even though I detest TV and radio advertising, I do think that if the TV licence was abolished then it could bring an end this insipid elitist control of British society.