TV licencing
I appreciate that it must be a hard job to collect TV licences. I agree that they need to be paid by people who watch the BBC.

However, when the TV licencing authority did't bother asking me to tell them if I have a TV or even telling me to get a licence but jumped straight to sending me a letter informing me that they would be visiting shortly and containing detailed information on how to behave at my upcoming court appearance _{if it turned out I had a tv}, I swore they would never, ever hear another word from me under any circumstances.

I do not have a TV.

They have yet to visit.
( Hdjejjwsjdjjf LOOK, Thu 11 Nov 2010, 15:52, 24 replies)

No
They need to be paid by people who watch broadcast television, not just the BBC.
(Vice Admiral Sir Charles Cockbrush KCB MBE DSO, who is finding it increasingly difficult to log into b3ta.com wants to duck your aunt and kick your puppy, Thu 11 Nov 2010, 16:40, closed)

I know they need to be
What I can't see is why they don't make TVs that can't recieve the BBC for those poeple who don't want to watch it. Admittedly you've got other things like airwave rental, but you could at least make the fee smaller in those cases.
( Hdjejjwsjdjjf LOOK, Thu 11 Nov 2010, 16:44, closed)

They could make the BBC subscription-based
But then not everybody would pay the subscription.

So either the programme-making budget would be slashed, or the subscription would go up, either way you get a lot less for your money.

Then even fewer people would pay the subscription.

And so on.

Until we end up like Australia or the USA.

Some people might argue that there would be nothing wrong with that, but I would be willing to poke them all in the eye.
(Vice Admiral Sir Charles Cockbrush KCB MBE DSO, who is finding it increasingly difficult to log into b3ta.com wants to duck your aunt and kick your puppy, Thu 11 Nov 2010, 16:58, closed)

Frankly yes, that would be worse.
If I had a TV I wouldn't mind paying the licence to escape the adverts, but the OP was about the harassing and threatening techinques the licencing authority uses to try and get money out of people who don't owe them any.
( Hdjejjwsjdjjf LOOK, Thu 11 Nov 2010, 16:59, closed)

I entirely agree
The BBC is one of the few things which Britain can still be proud of. The government is doing all it can to break up the corporation, but I think it should be strengthened, if anything.
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Thu 11 Nov 2010, 19:39, closed)

the licence
is for you to install and use equipment to receive tv signals as they are broadcast. It has nothing to do with watching BBC.
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Thu 11 Nov 2010, 17:18, closed)

Out of curiosity, as you seem to know more than me, do they make televisions...
... or large television like flat scree monitors that can't receive signals but have the same connections and such? That may be a reeeeeeally stupid question on my part but I don't know about connections needed for games consoles and the likes.

Also, does that then mean that you could watch, without a license, programmes on websites such as 4od as they are not being broadcast and received as they would be on a telly?
( vix0r was not Matthew on, Thu 11 Nov 2010, 17:34, closed)

coincidently
...I've just had one through the door (despite also not owning, sorry using a TV for receiving broadcast).
It states that even if you use the internet to view TV 'as it is broadcast' then you need a licence.
(dchurch bah, Thu 11 Nov 2010, 18:13, closed)

In Ireland
you need a licence for a TV or Radio. I solved the problem by nailing two signs outside my driveway. One stating Trespassers will be prosecuted and the other Road closed. Happy days.
( dazbrilliantwhites has been meaning to change this..., Thu 11 Nov 2010, 23:38, closed)

Yes you do. You need one if you use a mobile phone for that purpose too.
"You need to be covered by a valid TV Licence if you watch or record TV as it's being broadcast. This includes the use of devices such as a computer, laptop, mobile phone or DVD/video recorder."

www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check/index.aspx?WT.mc_id=r054#link1
(Captain Skippy pooed in a bag and left it on your doorstep, Fri 12 Nov 2010, 5:51, closed)

yes
and you can watch the i-player.
( Ring Of Fire A petty, drooling belming butthurt retard., Thu 11 Nov 2010, 21:57, closed)

My Samsung SyncMaster 2493HM has an HDMI input.
So yes.
( flake has nothing against your right leg, Fri 12 Nov 2010, 2:10, closed)

Yeah, these devices exist.
You could probably get away with it if you killed the receiver somehow (glue the ariel port?).
From my reading of it, on demand services are ok without a license, but live streaming isn't.
( Sextant goes to him is emotionally erect, on this day, Fri 12 Nov 2010, 7:14, closed)

What does this have to do with big kites?

( Ring Of Fire A petty, drooling belming butthurt retard., Thu 11 Nov 2010, 17:37, closed)

And what does this have to do with Melodi Dushane?

( Hdjejjwsjdjjf LOOK, Thu 11 Nov 2010, 17:50, closed)

Those letters used to arrive at my uni by the crate.

( idonthaveafunnynickname Drink-Aware? Sure. I'm aware I want another drink., Thu 11 Nov 2010, 18:20, closed)

I'm
going to diguise my car as a TV detector van next halloween.
(Megamoss, Thu 11 Nov 2010, 18:25, closed)

Good luck...
...the digital signal doesn't bounce the way the old analogue one does, so no tell-tale ghost signal would be picked up by a van - if they even exist(ed).
(dchurch bah, Thu 11 Nov 2010, 18:38, closed)

Wasn't it the television tuner's IF that was picked up by the vans?
I don't know much about digital reception, but I'd guess some sort of superheterodyne tuning is still used. I'm willing to be corrected though.
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Thu 11 Nov 2010, 19:41, closed)

You know how you have to give the shop your address
When you buy a telly?

That's how they know. Simple database. Detector my arse.
( drunkenoaf, Thu 11 Nov 2010, 23:05, closed)

Quite.
In France, if you sell a second-hand TV to someone, you are legally bound to inform them who you sold it to.
(dchurch bah, Fri 12 Nov 2010, 11:21, closed)

Apparently, they can't tell the difference between a TV and a radio either.

( The Mock TurtIe ™ --- Thinks you are a cunt, on, Thu 11 Nov 2010, 20:33, closed)

I bet they did come
and sat outisde and bigged them selves up that they was gonna 'do a wrong un' until they set up their little machines and were gutted to realise that you didn't have a TV after all and therefore they would have looked like fools going in to check. I bet they have you on a list somewhere too in case you ever do get one, they'll pounce ten minutes after you've plugged it in and shout 'ha, we knew you was a wrong un' and then feel all big about themselves and they go and catch someone else who just couldn't be arsed to buy one.
(Wagane, Thu 11 Nov 2010, 21:27, closed)

I print...
...Those letters from TV Licence every day in work and have come to realise, even if you do have a TV you don't have to pay the bill as you get a reminder, then another reminder, then a 3rd, then a 4th (all of which have seperate letterheads) and then finally the 5th is the "FINAL REMINDER" so you've got time. All this paper stock is most likely where the majority of the money goes we print that many each day
(TaZ44, Fri 12 Nov 2010, 10:07, closed)