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I'm not sure about the legalities abroad but in the UK at least it's illegal to watch this stream without a TV licence and they do try and prosecute people if t

by brackin 14y ago

I'm not sure about the legalities abroad but in the UK at least it's illegal to watch this stream without a TV licence and they do try and prosecute people if they can find an address attached to your IP, obviously this isn't possible through this method but just a heads up. Another option which doesn't require a tv licence is TVCatchup.com which legally streams UK TV channels (to the UK only). Although I will say the BBC interface is far better and allows you to go back to the start if you press play on the live player half way through and of course is ad free. Regardless, I condone this as NBC should allow everyone to watch online live and if they don't people will go to better alternatives.

mseebach 14y ago
> they do try and prosecute people if they can find an address attached to your IP How? Will the ISPs actually just hand those out?
- brackin 14y ago
  They do a surprising amount, they seriously have vans that drive around scanning to see if you're watching television on a physical TV and if so if you don't have a licence they'll fine you I'm not sure if they are actually finding out if you have a TV licence on the stream yet but I wouldn't be surprised if they are/do.
  - mseebach 14y ago
    The effectiveness of detector vans is an urban myth. The only confirmed tactics is requiring stores selling TVs to collect the address of the buyer and knocking on the doors of people not paying the licence in the assumtion that they actually have a TV.
    - ZoFreX 14y ago
      They drove a very obvious looking "detector van" around near our university halls for a few days, and a few days later every person that had a TV and no license got a letter, got scared, and paid up. Of course, everyone that had no TV and no license also got a letter... and so did everyone that already had a TV license!
  - omh 14y ago
    they seriously have vans that drive around scanning to see if you're watching television on a physical TV There's been some debate about whether these vans truly did any "detection". It may actually have been an elaborate bluff. Most of their efforts, especially recently, are just pestering every UK address which doesn't have a license (relatively few nowadays).
    - mseebach 14y ago
      In the early days, when TVs were badly shielded and (more importantly) few and far between, and where radio transmitters were rare, it's plausible that simply listening for electromagnetic noise would yield usable results. Today, to believe that a machine exists (in secrecy, no less) that can detect from a considerable distance, through walls, if someone is watching live TV (watching non-live TV without a license is legal) on iPlayer on their computer in a setting overflowing with all sorts of legitimate electromagnetic radiation is, frankly, laughable.
corin_ 14y ago
Using TVCatcup.com absolutely does require a license - the license rule is about "watching live TV in the UK", it doesn't matter if you're doing it on a TV, from iPlayer or from a third party.

by brackin 14y ago

mseebach 14y ago

> they do try and prosecute people if they can find an address attached to your IP How? Will the ISPs actually just hand those out?

brackin 14y ago
They do a surprising amount, they seriously have vans that drive around scanning to see if you're watching television on a physical TV and if so if you don't have a licence they'll fine you I'm not sure if they are actually finding out if you have a TV licence on the stream yet but I wouldn't be surprised if they are/do.
- mseebach 14y ago
  The effectiveness of detector vans is an urban myth. The only confirmed tactics is requiring stores selling TVs to collect the address of the buyer and knocking on the doors of people not paying the licence in the assumtion that they actually have a TV.
  - ZoFreX 14y ago
    They drove a very obvious looking "detector van" around near our university halls for a few days, and a few days later every person that had a TV and no license got a letter, got scared, and paid up. Of course, everyone that had no TV and no license also got a letter... and so did everyone that already had a TV license!
- omh 14y ago
  they seriously have vans that drive around scanning to see if you're watching television on a physical TV There's been some debate about whether these vans truly did any "detection". It may actually have been an elaborate bluff. Most of their efforts, especially recently, are just pestering every UK address which doesn't have a license (relatively few nowadays).
  - mseebach 14y ago
    In the early days, when TVs were badly shielded and (more importantly) few and far between, and where radio transmitters were rare, it's plausible that simply listening for electromagnetic noise would yield usable results. Today, to believe that a machine exists (in secrecy, no less) that can detect from a considerable distance, through walls, if someone is watching live TV (watching non-live TV without a license is legal) on iPlayer on their computer in a setting overflowing with all sorts of legitimate electromagnetic radiation is, frankly, laughable.

corin_ 14y ago

Using TVCatcup.com absolutely does require a license - the license rule is about "watching live TV in the UK", it doesn't matter if you're doing it on a TV, from iPlayer or from a third party.