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Brit here. This country can be a bit strange, sometimes. The BBC is currently funded by a TV licence, an annual fee mandated by the Government/Treasury. As of
by petecooper 10y ago
Brit here. This country can be a bit strange, sometimes.
The BBC is currently funded by a TV licence, an annual fee mandated by the Government/Treasury. As of now, if you watch broadcast TV live, be it BBC or a commercial alternative, you require a TV licence. There's been a loophole that permits catch-up watching via iPlayer, the BBC's own on-demand brand, without a valid TV licence.
When TV signals were analogue, detector vans would apparently drive around and be able to check if a household was watching TV without a licence. The digital switchover effectively rendered these trucks useless. Anecdotally, a large majority of British households have a TV licence, it's considered by many as a utility bill.
There's a sort of precedent with the TV detector vans, I guess, and this is just a modern remix. I'm horrified, personally, and I'm figuring out what to do next. The cynic in me is wondering whether this news was quietly released around the launch of the Olympics so it could be buried. I don't know. I do know as a network installer I'll have to gen-up on the specifics of wireshark et al because I'm going to get calls.
On a personal note, I moved to a semi-rural location in 2012 and cancelled my TV licence (I don't want TV, nor iPlayer). I heard horror stories from family and friends about how the TV licence folks would plague me with calls, letters, intrusive visits, etc. Sum total so far is a letter each year on the anniversary of me moving in asking if I'm still sure I don't need a licence. I don't, and I tell them via their website, and that's it.
- hayd 10y agoIf you think of it as a state mandated tax, it's a regressive one which hits the poorest hardest. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/sep/24/in-court-non-payment-tv-licence-television-desperate-cases https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/sep/24/in-court-non... I think in urban areas you will be pushed harder for the license. As a first year student I received at least a dozen threats of being fined/prosecuted... despite not having a TV.
- tonyedgecombe 10y agoIt shouldn't really be a criminal matter if you don't pay it, this affects women disproportionately, see http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3262731/Licence-fee-jail-terms-not-fair-women-Government-fresh-pressure-overhaul-figures-six-times-likely-sent-prison.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3262731/Licence-fee-...
- dTal 10y ago>When TV signals were analogue, detector vans would apparently drive around and be able to check if a household was watching TV without a licence. The digital switchover effectively rendered these trucks useless. You missed the funny part! The "TV detector vans" were never functional and acted purely as a deterrent. This has still not been officially admitted. Reading the technical description on the article, and given that it's a "new generation of TV detector van", I wouldn't be at all surprised if this another bluff. The most shocking part of all this, to me, is that the BBC is perfectly willing to lie to the public for profits. Not a great habit for the state media to be in. http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/10/31/bbc-admits-that-tv-d.html http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/10/31/bbc-admits-that-tv-...
- ArtDev 10y agoFascinating. This must be analogous to the NHK fee collector in Japan. It is an important part of the novel IQ84 by Haruki Murakami. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004LROUW2/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1#nav-subnav https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004LROUW2/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?... Though it sounds like in Japan its more confrontational.