TV licensing...

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
Yep you guessed it
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BritBox

[mercalia]

just got a scam email claiming to be from the TV License authority that "some thing had gone wrong" with my payment and if I didnt correct the fault the license would be cancelled.... yeah right I dont watch tv and dont have a license

[merseymouth]

Hi all, As the BBC in its selfish ways has decided that all folk over 75 will have to pay the £150+ TV "Poll Tax", that is unless you can prove that you only receive the Widow's Mite"! The fee of course intended to fund the lavish lifestyle of "Reith's Regiment" of gravy trainers, supposedly to provide quality programming?
Even before the Covid Crisis the declared aims of Auntie was to pander to the tastes of the Yoof Sector, 18 - 24, hence sop in abundance!
Well even as a youthful 71 year-old i resent the fee, soapy, reality TV doesn't reach any area of interest for me & mine!
My cable package is there mainly for my broadband and landline, with only Eurosport being a paid option by us. Sky, Neflix, et al I don't want so I don't pay for them. Apart from the news & regional output the only other sort of programme that the Beeb makes that I watch are about to be axed, not to 18- 24 taste!
So whilst I prefer not to break any laws I'm sorely tempted to withdraw my direct debit mandate in favour of the TV Licensing mob!
That annual fee is virtually the same as my weekly pension, so in fact one twelfth of my income is to pay for crepe? (deliberate misspelling).
* My wife watches the Sewing Bee stuff, but if we could buy that on DVD it would be but a fraction of the licence cost?

So, will my mail have to be re-route to HMP Walton? MM

[rjb]

You don't need a license to watch the beeb in prison.

[Oldjohnw]

Not the BBC's fault. Government used to pay it because it was government that brought it in. The the Tories dumped it on the BBC without providing the funds.

Part of Cummings' plan to make the BBC unpopular then the Tories can scrap it saying no-one liked it.

In parallel the Tories were making non payment a civil offence, as with other debt, so you won't be going to prison.

[yakdiver]

You don't need a license to watch the beeb in prison.

I haven't got a telly so no licence, but the other day I got a letter from them saying that I have used iplayer twice this year and put me under investigation, which I have not, we will have to see what come of it.

[mercalia]

You don't need a license to watch the beeb in prison.

hmm I think they have a prison within the prison for those people called solitary confinement

[mercalia]

You don't need a license to watch the beeb in prison.

I haven't got a telly so no licence, but the other day I got a letter from them saying that I have used iplayer twice this year and put me under investigation, which I have not, we will have to see what come of it.

Thats interesting. Do you have an account with the BBC? You have to these days to play non news videos or even listen to things I think. if you dont ( I dont ) then you are safe, maybe some one piggy backed on your wifi if you have one? Let us know how that all goes. I had been wondering whether they kept an eye on that issue.

[Mick F]

We have an account with the BBC and the name and email address are completely and utterly fictitious.
Unless you have an account, you can't listen to online radio or BBC Sounds ........ which we do.

They don't check if the email etc is valid or not.
No point really coz radio isn't subject to the TVL fee and could never be.

For heaven's sake, don't put your real name and email address in there.

[yakdiver]

You don't need a license to watch the beeb in prison.

I haven't got a telly so no licence, but the other day I got a letter from them saying that I have used iplayer twice this year and put me under investigation, which I have not, we will have to see what come of it.

Thats interesting. Do you have an account with the BBC? You have to these days to play non news videos or even listen to things I think. if you dont ( I dont ) then you are safe, maybe some one piggy backed on your wifi if you have one? Let us know how that all goes. I had been wondering whether they kept an eye on that issue.

I don't think I had an account with them, but they had my email address as I had to send them a declaration to say that I didn't have a TV, been doing that for the past few years.
If someone has hacked my computer stolen my email address could they then use my Wi-Fi, if so they would have to live close to me …..

[reohn2]

Not the BBC's fault. Government used to pay it because it was government that brought it in. The the Tories dumped it on the BBC without providing the funds.

Part of Cummings' plan to make the BBC unpopular then the Tories can scrap it saying no-one liked it.

In parallel the Tories were making non payment a civil offence, as with other debt, so you won't be going to prison.

And so in stopping the funding for over 75's and making it a civil offence not to pay the fee,the same will happen as has happened when VED became something not needing be displayed in the windscreen,there'll be vast swathes of people not paying the TV licence,as a result the BBC's income will reduce significantly in turn making the service worse and eventually forcing it to commecialise.
If MM likes that prospect,I don't,and I also realise and appreciative that the BBC provides more than just a bit of TV.
Of course he's right about some presenters raking it in,but that goes the same for commercial stations too.
And whilst he may not realise it he's paying for them too everytime he buys a block of soap or whatever it is they advertise in their inane jingles that interupt the programs.
You don't get owt for nowt as they say.

[simonineaston]

Thats interesting. Do you have an account with the BBC? You have to these days to play non news videos or even listen to things I think. if you dont ( I dont ) then you are safe, maybe some one piggy backed on your wifi if you have one? Let us know how that all goes. I had been wondering whether they kept an eye on that issue.

YakDriver's letter is another example of Capita's well-documented use of aggressive wording to intimidate the target into buying a licence. It's all part of their assumption that their target is attempting to evade paying for a licence, an unpleasant reversal of the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty. In fact, I don't imagine Capita care one way or another if the target consumes content or not - their primary goal is to get people to buy a licence, regardless of whether they actually need one!
I'm logged on to iPlayer all the time, in order to access such of the BBC's content that does not require a licence, for example radio & news content. I'm entirely entitled to do so, and neither require a licence nor am I breaking any law.
As to whether there is a mechanism that links content accessed via iPlayer (as above) with their records of up-to-date licences, I do not know. Since the iPlayer account requires only a username, password & postcode - which the creator may choose to fabricate - it may beg the question how would Capita cross-reference that info (always assuming it was "real") with an address, without falling foul of GDP regulations... presumably, it would require enough digging to link the iPlayer account with an IP address, and then more digging to link the IP address with a physical address. Even then, there would be a requirement to prove that the iPlayer account was being used to access content that required a licence - and that goes back to the need to get access to the records of the data consumed by the ISP's customer, which the ISP would be unlikely to share, unless under a court order.
However, the fact remains that registered iPlayer users are perfectly entitled to sign in and access BBC content so long as they steer away from the stuff they should have a licence for. If you not not consume content that would require a licence to do so, they cannot build a case as there would be no evidence that you are breaking the law and so will not be able to prosecute.

[landsurfer]

I had a visit from a chap that introduced himself to be from TV Licensing.
He asked if we had a tv i replied that we had a monitor that we watch entertainment and play games on ... actually theres about 6 in the house.
He asked what was on at this exact moment ... i replied "House of Anubis" on Netflix.
He asked what platforms we had ... Sky, Netflix, Prime and NOW ... was my reply...
At this point his manner changed ... he demanded access to my home to confirm what we where watching.
I refused.
He commenced to caution me... i slammed the door ...
He left.
That was 8 months ago.....

Not a word since ......

[mercalia]

I haven't got a telly so no licence, but the other day I got a letter from them saying that I have used iplayer twice this year and put me under investigation, which I have not, we will have to see what come of it.

Thats interesting. Do you have an account with the BBC? You have to these days to play non news videos or even listen to things I think. if you dont ( I dont ) then you are safe, maybe some one piggy backed on your wifi if you have one? Let us know how that all goes. I had been wondering whether they kept an eye on that issue.

I don't think I had an account with them, but they had my email address as I had to send them a declaration to say that I didn't have a TV, been doing that for the past few years.
If someone has hacked my computer stolen my email address could they then use my Wi-Fi, if so they would have to live close to me …..

I mean a login account with the BBC not the people who handle the license - you cant use iplayer stuff without logging in to the BBC I think now. This is what I get if I try.

click to enlarge

I understand if the material requires a licence you get a pop up to confirm you do first

you have to be careful with iplayer?

https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/topics/bbc-iplayer-and-the-tv-licence

Do I need a licence for everything on BBC iPlayer?

You need to be covered by a licence to watch or download almost all BBC programmes on iPlayer. At the moment, there are just a few exceptions – watching S4C TV on demand, listening to radio, and watching films or TV shows you’ve bought on the BBC Store. There may be other exceptions in the future.

Remember, you still need a TV Licence to watch or record any live TV programmes on any channel, no matter what device you use.

it seems really the only legit use of iplayer in England is radio? Any form of watching isnt? ( does any one buy films from them?)

[simonineaston]

To be exact... (and my most recent post wasn't!), you do need a licence if you access content via iPlayer. What I was referring to earlier, when I described signing in, was simply the BBC website, of which iPlayer is one part - see below. Sorry if that's confused anyone! There's tons of content on the BBC's website that's perfectly legal to watch and listen to, or as the dreadful lexicon of the data-age has it - consume. It's just the stuff on iPlayer you should have the licence to watch, just as you need a licence to watch BBC programmes via a lot of other platforms... or indeed content from certain other channels, such as Channel 4.

BBC website is perfectly legal to access...

With respect to Landsurfer's post, if they can't get enough evidence, they won't prosecute you, however an admission that you were consuming content that required a licence is evidence, albeit insufficient on its own for a prosecution.