TV Licence article Discussion

Cornucopia wrote: »

I've had a play with the keyword blocking on my Now TV router, and all it needs is a keyword of "iplayer". This allows viewing of program info, but blocks access before the Login challenge.

I don't know whether this will also work on Youview. The previous URL block for Youview was "ibl.api.bbci.co.uk", but I don't have any way to test that.

Thanks for the tips Cornucopia, I will do some experimenting. I love a challenge.

Deleted_User wrote: »

I'm not at least bit bothered if TVL detect if iPlayer has called home or not as they will never be allowed into my home.

That's the thing though, there will come a time (perhaps not yet today) where they won't need to come in your home to [STRIKE]know[/STRIKE] think you've been watching something without a licence.

I don't want to let an electronic box turn me into a 'criminal' because it has done something I've got no idea it can do, and didn't want it to do in the first place.

EachPenny wrote: »

That's the thing though, there will come a time (perhaps not yet today) where they won't need to come in your home to [STRIKE]know[/STRIKE] think you've been watching something without a licence.

I don't want to let an electronic box turn me into a 'criminal' because it has done something I've got no idea it can do, and didn't want it to do in the first place.

If they can tell what you were watching, they can tell when you were watching it?
You can't be responsible for what another user did with a SH unit before you had it surely?
Anyway of clearing any logs on there, resetting the unit, etc. etc?

Deleted_User wrote: »

If the BBC went encrypted, then all licence holders would need a viewing card and where would this viewing card go? They'd need a new box.

Unlocking the encryption with you TVL reference would be open to abuse e.g. one person pays for a licence but then shares it with family and friends to get access.

Personally, I think that both of these issues are resolvable - assuming that there was good will from both the BBC and Government (which I think is, overall, the greater barrier).

There's also the small matter that the Freeview spec was manipulated by the BBC (under Greg Dyke) to remove the Card Slot that had previously been mandatory. Dyke is clear that this was a deliberate move to make a subsequent move of the BBC to subscription much harder. Nevertheless, most modern TVs have card slots, and this could be the route to avoid the need for an additional "Beeb Box". Overall, I'd be surprised if any more than a small minority of households did not already have the means to receive an encrypted BBC using their existing equipment, although recording might be an issue.

The other "big picture" solution would be to go with full encryption on those platforms that readily support it, and have a transitional (or permanent) BBC1 service with ads on Freeview. 10 minute filler programs could be added to the subscription version 3 or 4 times a day to achieve compatibility in the schedules. Personally, I very much favour this solution as it would enable individual households to make the choice for themselves.

The issue of Licence tokens has a variety of potential solutions. The basic principle is that a LF-payer would be allowed a quota of access accounts per Licence. Maybe that quota could start low (say, 4 concurrent devices) and could be increased upon request. There would never be a possibility of one Licence being shared by thousands of users - that would be fundamentally and unnecessarily bad design.