TV Licence article Discussion

Heykittygirl · 18 July 2019 at 9:46PM

Sorry if it's been asked already but do you need a license if you merely have access to 4od through a smart TV? The license people have first of all told my bf he needs a license (even though all he watches is Netflix and Amazon) and when he said he won't be paying it they told him because he has access to 4od he has to pay. However an article on this site says you do not need it if you do not watch live TV or iPlayer. Do I have a right to complain to them? I feel they're in the wrong here

cw18 · 18 July 2019 at 10:05PM

The ONLY catch-up service that requires a licence is BBC iPlayer.

And having access to iPlayer doesn't require a licence - WATCHING it does. My Smart TV has the iPlayer app, but I don't use it so I don't need a licence.

Cornucopia · 18 July 2019 at 10:11PM

Heykittygirl wrote: »

Sorry if it's been asked already but do you need a license if you merely have access to 4od through a smart TV?

No. In fact, you don't need a Licence to "merely have access" to anything. The Licence is to receive TV through "live" broadcasts on linear channels or via BBC iPlayer.

The license people have first of all told my bf he needs a license (even though all he watches is Netflix and Amazon) and when he said he won't be paying it they told him because he has access to 4od he has to pay. However an article on this site says you do not need it if you do not watch live TV or iPlayer. Do I have a right to complain to them? I feel they're in the wrong here

The MSE article is correct (and amongst TV Licensing articles in the media is one of the most complete and accurate).

I doubt that complaining will achieve much. I would simply tell your BF that he is correct, that he doesn't need a Licence to use Netflix and Amazon(*) and not worry too much about TV Licensing (who are difficult to deal with at the best of times - when you don't need a Licence).

(*) Amazon carries live tennis at certain times of the year. Whilst this doesn't require a Licence (being programming specifically created for Amazon and not carried in the UK by any broadcast TV channel), it's possible that TV Licensing would claim that it does require a Licence.

oldernonethewiser · 19 July 2019 at 4:11PM

Just received my second letter from TVL.

Gosh they are an intimidating lot with their choice of words.

As I didn't respond to their previous letter "an investigation into your property has now begun"

Oh the horror!

I can still stop this investigation; "you need to buy a licence without delay"

Well, no I don't actually.

What I can do is put their letter in the recycling and carry on ignoring them

If the time comes when I require a licence then I shall buy one.

But that time is not now, so no licence needed.

FreeBear · 19 July 2019 at 4:26PM

oldernonethewiser wrote: »

As I didn't respond to their previous letter "an investigation into your property has now begun"

"And so it begins" - Only to be repeated again in six months time. Quite how long they keep launching these "investigations" is anybody's guess. I'm in to the fourth year, and I don't even bother opening the letters any more.

1005922 · 19 July 2019 at 4:28PM

Weekly occurrence are the letters for me, I just write return to sender not interested on them and pop them back in the post

oldernonethewiser · 19 July 2019 at 4:35PM

Many years ago, at another property, I kept getting letters so I phoned them up and they said they could see I had a licence and did not know why the letters were being sent out. They didn't stop and two goons did in fact turn up eventually They were very disappointed when I showed them my licence.

I was more naive in those days. Now I would just tell them to f-off.

Watchkeeper · 19 July 2019 at 5:29PM

Cornucopia wrote: »

Maybe it's a leftover from the Radio Licence?

Yes, I believe it is. A licence originally permitted you to establish a "wireless telegraphy receiving station". Over the years the 1904 Act has been updated in an ad hoc fashion in an attempt to keep up with technology, but the concept of the "receiving station" persisted which is why premises are licensed, not people. The Communications Act 2003, the latest incarnation, has this at Section 363:

Licence required for use of TV receiver
(1) A television receiver must not be installed or used unless the installation and use of the receiver is authorised by a licence under this Part.

"Installation" in the old days involved plugging into the mains (valves needed a lot of energy) and connecting an aerial, otherwise the apparatus would not work. Nowadays, if you're on internal battery power with no external aerial then you haven't "installed" the receiver and its use is covered by your home licence.

It's not so much a hangover from the 1950s as from the early days of Government attempts to control "wireless telegraphy", notably the Wireless Telegraphy Acts of 1904, 1924 and 1949!

Watchkeeper · 19 July 2019 at 6:39PM

wymondham wrote: »

Tell a 70 year old you don't have a TV licence and they will probably call the police!

Don't be so ageist!

I'm the other side of 70 and haven't paid for a licence these last 50 years - perfectly legally. I refuse to fund the BBC on principle, an organisation diametrically opposed to my own world view.

Ego_Shredder · 20 July 2019 at 9:19AM

People are asking if there are alternatives to the main news programmes on the terrestrial channels, but getting the abject lies, deception, manipulation, social engineering and marxist left wing views of the mainstream media out of my life, was one of the first benefits of stopping watching my TV.

Since 2010, I have received my news via various carefully selected YouTube channels, and social media sites. Any source can lie to you, but after a while and with a bit of thought you can get a good enough idea of which are more reliable.

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