TV Licence article Discussion

DavidP24

Mumalbthree wrote: »

Hi, we haven't had a TV for over 8+ years and my children watch IPlayer, 4OD, YouTube etc on their devices. If they download BBC programmes when they stay at their dad's (who does have a TV licence), can they watch them at home with me without me needing a TV licence? Thanks.

My advice would be to get a licence if you ARE watching BBC content, if you do not engage a TVL goon it will never be an issue.

If you WERE to engage (#foolish) then if they are resident at their Dad's then I would guess they are covered by his. I really can't see the goons peeping through the window to watch kids on their devices but there are some videos of them doing that to adults.

I know a lot of people hurl abuse at TVL Crapita because they represent an organisation that allowed kiddy fiddlers to put caravans in their car park etc, it would be great if you reported one to cops as a peeping tom!

DavidP24

bsod wrote: »

Try not paying your car tax, or your income tax.

What do you consider to be quality programming?

Now I AM talking to you so you are welcome to engage.

You are kidding, certain people (family of former PM called err Cameron and one called errr Blair), avoid Income Tax massively.

I always find it funny that people like you have this mentality that all people who do not have a TV licence are fiddling.

You also tend to have this attitude of "I pay and so should you"

To me it is not just about quality it is about lifestyle choice, you come home knackered and there is nothing decent on so you are force fed yet another Come Dine with Me or Border Control or whatever tripe is on the menu.

If you play the game and subscribe to SkyPlus or HD or whatever they are calling it these days you get the stuff waiting for you, but then if you downgrade you lose all the content you paid for in subs. Back in 2007 when I dumped Sky I was paying £600 a year plus the TV Licence. Now I pay zero and I have a better setup.

With Amazon and other services I can build up my own library, I do NOT have to have a living room full of DVD's, I do not have to get up to open a DVD box, put it in machine, wait for stupid menu and warnings and notices and whatever.

I have a tiny Samsung 4tb USB3 external disk on a headless PC that cost £130 it has HDMI and goes into a monitor, there is no TV tuner and there is no Iplayer. My content is there ready if I am in the mood, it is served up by Plex.TV installed on that PC, which is like my very own Netflix, this is an example of just one screen,



So it is not just about the quality it is about the mood you are in.

You might be in the mood for a bit of Luc Besson or you might want a rom com, you just choose and watch, no ads, no previews, no away in the sun tripe.

PC was less than the annual cost of TV Licence, Plex Server software is free and client is $5, you do not need client for Browser, just for iPad or Amazon Firestick. Roku one was free.

If you have fibre broadband you can even serve up your library to your phone or work PC via the web or a Plex App on your phone. So you can watch a movie on the way home and Plex even remembers what you were watching and where you were in each programme.

For people who do not want to be bothered with this there is Netflix, it costs less than half the TV Licence and has way more content than you are offered by the BBC. Each year having dumped Sky and BBC I save £745, I think it around £6k saved so far.

I used to be the strongest advocate of the BBC, I thought they were worth protecting but now it is up to them to stop being greedy bully boys.

I like that it is ad free and if they offered a subscription model that allowed me to grab just a seleection of programmes I might be persuaded to buy in. Now they have created such bad feeling and the longer they keep up this licensing model the more they will lose. Now is the time to build the subscriber model and to open it up worldwide, so not just the 70m UK population but 7bn worldwide, albeit that includes kids and they will need to price for local markets.

They have the potential to open up all the historic BBC content and allow it to be watched online by billions, but no they want to be small minded.

As long as they operate the Crapita Goon Squad I will not buy anything from them.

DavidP24

digitalhen wrote: »

Martin's FAQ for the TV license says you still need a license if you're streaming live TV from a foreign website (say, you're streaming something live from CNN or MLB).

That can't possibly be true can it? That can't be what they mean by 'live TV'?

Cornucopia wrote: »

That's what TVL would have told MSE. However, there doesn't seem to be any basis in law for it. (Since the law specifically mentions "UK and Channel Islands").

"Live" TV is a misleading term. "TV Broadcasts" or "Linear Channels" would be more accurate.

In fact, if a water-tight definition is required, I would suggest this one:-

You need a Licence to watch or record (locally) TV broadcasts received via traditional means (satellite, cable & freeview) in the UK, their Internet live-streamed equivalents, and (from today) BBC iPlayer.

So they changed the heading because of different delivery methods, but seems they have always felt live tv was the factor, regardless of source.

According to the goon squad site they say you DO but I agree with Cornucopia; unless the law has changed.

The goon squad site used to say

Crapita wrote: »

Do I need a television licence if I only watch programmes received by satellite?

"Yes you do. You need a TV Licence to watch or record live TV, no matter where it is broadcast or distributed from. This includes satellite or online streamed programmes from outside the UK or Channel Islands, such as sporting events and foreign shows. Live TV means any programme you watch or record at the same time as it’s being shown on TV or live on an online TV service".

Now it says

Crapita wrote: »

Do I need a TV Licence if I watch programmes broadcast from outside the UK or Channel Islands?

Yes you do. You need a TV Licence to watch or record live TV, no matter where it is broadcast or distributed from. This includes satellite or online streamed programmes from outside the UK or Channel Islands, such as sporting events and foreign shows.
Live TV means any programme you watch or record at the same time as it’s being shown on TV or live on an online TV service.

http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/faqs/FAQ16

Cornucopia

This is even more definitive, from a Wayback Machine snapshot from June 2015...

Watching TV on the internet
You need to be covered by a licence if you watch TV online at the same time as it's being broadcast on conventional TV in the UK or the Channel Islands.

That quote is my understanding of the Law now. But the TVL site now says something different.

[Deleted User]

bsod wrote: »

£145 is a small percentage of a typical households bills

Not for everyone it isn't.

[Deleted User]

bsod wrote: »

Try not paying car tax/income tax/inheritance tax/council tax/stamp duty/parking fines.

I don't need to pay car tax, if I'm not driving on the road.

Cornucopia

I don't need to pay car tax, and I do drive on the roads.

cw18

biggsy137 wrote: »

Has anyone else who's not got a TV license also not had a letter or have the message on iplayer to say they'll needing now??

I've not had any communication from them about it. Can't say about messages on iPlayer as I don't use it anyway.

keyskeys_2

Can't see anything about those who are exempt from the license fee due to being over 75. Should they answer yes or no to the question on IPlayer?

cw18

You're not exempt from having a licence at 75 - you get a free one. So you have a licence, albeit you've not paid for it.