4 ms·

There are also people(and I assume an increasing amount) who have a TV but don't watch live to air telly (and so don't need a license). As the numbers increase

• dagw 14y ago
  In Sweden you have to pay if you own a TV capable of watching live to air telly, irregardless of if you actually do or not. So unless you physically remove the relevant electronics, you need a license, even if you're only using it as a large computer monitor.
  • alexkus 14y ago
    Probably the more sensible way to do it. In the UK they've made it more complex that a license is required (for your home address) if you watch live TV on any device (including a computer or smartphone).
  • mseebach 14y ago
    In Denmark, the license is on TVs, any internet-enabled device or smartphone - basically, anyone is covered. It's ridiculous that they haven't had the decency to just make it a plain household-tax instead of this fake-pretend.
• mseebach 14y ago
  The rule about using the TV to watch broadcasts was a court ruling from about 20 years ago IIRC - the original language of the law was that just owning a TV was enough. I'm not a legal scholar, but I think it was with reference to the fact that when the law was written, the only purpose a TV could reasonably have was to watch the broadcasts of the BBC, and so there was no point in clarifying this in the language of the law. With the advent of VCR's, it became perfectly reasonable to own a TV for other purposes than watching broadcast TV, and the court ruled that the intent of the law was to license watching TV, not owning a TV.