4 ms·

>>> We're sorry but this site is not accessible from the UK as it is part of our international service and is not funded by the licence fee. Well, I wasn't exp

by 0898 10y ago

>>> We're sorry but this site is not accessible from the UK as it is part of our international service and is not funded by the licence fee. Well, I wasn't expecting that.

ldjb 10y ago
Yeah, it really sucks that those of us in UK are blocked from accessing parts of the BBC website whilst everyone else can. (It's essentially down to the fact that the BBC aren't allowed to display adverts — which feature on the website — to users in the UK. Apparently it's too costly to have the site not display adverts to UK users, so they simply block access to the entire site.) You can still access the article via the Wayback Machine, though: http://web.archive.org/web/20170406163007/http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20170330-the-worlds-first-christian-country http://web.archive.org/web/20170406163007/http://www.bbc.com...
maehwasu 10y ago
VPN ftw
TallGuyShort 10y ago
I don't understand that - I get why licence-fee funded stuff wouldn't get broadcast to those who wouldn't ever pay it, but why not allow people who do pay the license fee to access the same stuff on the same terms as people who don't?
- taejo 10y ago
  The Beeb is forbidden by law from showing ads in the UK.
  - phaemon 10y ago
    Maybe they could check if you have an ad blocker and only show the site if you do :)
  - binarymax 10y ago
    Sure, so hide the ads instead?!
    - gambiting 10y ago
      Then you are showing content to people who are not paying for it any any way(neither TV Licence nor ads). I mean, I think it wouldn't make any difference whatsoever, but I can see the logic why it's done that way.
      - ldjb 10y ago
        As I alluded to in another comment, I distinctly remember seeing a web page on the BBC website explaining that this is a cost/resources issue. Apparently the capability to display an advert-free version used to be there, but it proved too costly to maintain. I've been trying to find that page, but unfortunately with no success.
      - binarymax 10y ago
        I meant hide the ads for the UK, show them elsewhere.
        gambiting 10y ago
        Sure, but then you have content funded by ads, and then you hide the ads for the whole country - that's gotta cost something.
        TallGuyShort 10y ago
        I'm surprised the economics are so vastly different from hiding the content and displaying this message instead.
  - TallGuyShort 10y ago
    Reading the other comments, it feels like the right thing to do is amend the law and permit the BBC to show ads in connection with content that is not funded by the license fee. Seems to me the hardest part of that is the accounting required to ensure all funding is kept separate for international and domestic projects, and that must have already been done.

by 0898 10y ago

>>> We're sorry but this site is not accessible from the UK as it is part of our international service and is not funded by the licence fee. Well, I wasn't expecting that.

ldjb 10y ago

Yeah, it really sucks that those of us in UK are blocked from accessing parts of the BBC website whilst everyone else can. (It's essentially down to the fact that the BBC aren't allowed to display adverts — which feature on the website — to users in the UK. Apparently it's too costly to have the site not display adverts to UK users, so they simply block access to the entire site.) You can still access the article via the Wayback Machine, though: http://web.archive.org/web/20170406163007/http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20170330-the-worlds-first-christian-country http://web.archive.org/web/20170406163007/http://www.bbc.com...

maehwasu 10y ago

VPN ftw

TallGuyShort 10y ago

I don't understand that - I get why licence-fee funded stuff wouldn't get broadcast to those who wouldn't ever pay it, but why not allow people who do pay the license fee to access the same stuff on the same terms as people who don't?

taejo 10y ago
The Beeb is forbidden by law from showing ads in the UK.
- phaemon 10y ago
  Maybe they could check if you have an ad blocker and only show the site if you do :)
- binarymax 10y ago
  Sure, so hide the ads instead?!
  - gambiting 10y ago
    Then you are showing content to people who are not paying for it any any way(neither TV Licence nor ads). I mean, I think it wouldn't make any difference whatsoever, but I can see the logic why it's done that way.
    - ldjb 10y ago
      As I alluded to in another comment, I distinctly remember seeing a web page on the BBC website explaining that this is a cost/resources issue. Apparently the capability to display an advert-free version used to be there, but it proved too costly to maintain. I've been trying to find that page, but unfortunately with no success.
    - binarymax 10y ago
      I meant hide the ads for the UK, show them elsewhere.
      - gambiting 10y ago
        Sure, but then you have content funded by ads, and then you hide the ads for the whole country - that's gotta cost something.
        TallGuyShort 10y ago
        I'm surprised the economics are so vastly different from hiding the content and displaying this message instead.
- TallGuyShort 10y ago
  Reading the other comments, it feels like the right thing to do is amend the law and permit the BBC to show ads in connection with content that is not funded by the license fee. Seems to me the hardest part of that is the accounting required to ensure all funding is kept separate for international and domestic projects, and that must have already been done.