My TV licence is due and as I do not watch TV live or record anything, I am writing to TV licencing in Bristol to inform them I do not require a licence..
So I am now going to carry on using BBC iPlayer etc from now on, for a few months trial.
What/where do I place my TV set in the meantime? Can I just unplug it and disconnect it from the Freeview box ... or do I have to hoik it up into the loft out of site ?
Mike P
Easy.
Detune your TV, remove your freeview box and cut the coax plug off the aerial.
Then leave your TV where you want to. You can still use it if you want to to watch pre-recorded DVDs and and videos and use it for playstations etc.
I have done it for the past 5 years.
Adam
AIUI as soon as they start broadcasting live TV in the iPlayer you will need a licence (whether you watch it or not).
Thanks Adam .... so lets hope they do not start live TV on iPlayer for a while as Peter suggests.
Mike P
AIUI as soon as they start broadcasting live TV in the iPlayer you will need a licence (whether you watch it or not).
The BBC News Channel is already broadcast live and you DO need a TV licence to watch that channel via the internet.
Adam
With the benefit of some space, I've hooked my 32" TV set up as the monitor to my pc, without the coax anywhere to be seen. Don't know that I'll ever be able to go back to anything smaller!
Since ringing TV Licencing to tell them I don't watch live TV in September, I've had just the one threatening letter.
AIUI as soon as they start broadcasting live TV in the iPlayer you will need a licence (whether you watch it or not).
Incorrect.
You cannot make someone who does not watch a live broadcast buy a TV licence.
Adam
Thus spake ARWadsworth ( snipped-for-privacy@blueyonder.co.uk) unto the assembled multitudes:
But what constitutes a "live" broadcast?
If it's in iPlayer then it's a digital recording, but - naive question - could it not be said that a 'live' digital TV broadcast is also a recording, given that it has to be digitised before being transmitted?
What do you call a license inspector with a machine gun?
SIR!
are you really that naive, or is plying the fool a cunning stunt?
"What speed did you think you were going, Sir?"
"whatever speed you two police 'witnesses' decide amongst yourselves I was going. What I think has little bearing on the matter"
Unless you are prepared to hire a silk, and take it to the high court, arguing that because you have fully functional equipment capable of receiving live broadcasts by radio waves and the internet, you have never ever used it to do so, is a very thin defence.
And since license violation is by way of a civil action, not criminal, its decided on the balance of probabilities, IIRC, not 'beyond reasonable doubt'
multitudes:
I think te definition is something like 'the program is being played at least concurrently with part of it still broadcast' or something.
Well at least it's not a criminal offence not to watch Bruce Forsyth. I was beginning to wonder
Two totally different types of law enforcers.
You can ask the pantomime bobby ie the TLVA officer to to leave at any time. In fact I do believe that I am allowed to physically remove one from my property if they do not leave when I ask them to do so.
I cannot do that with a police officer. I could ask them to leave but I cannot make them leave.
Even thinner are the chances of the TVLA taking you to court just because you just own a computer or a TV.
Reasonable doubt with the TVLA means a confession from a licence evader. They would not risk anything less.
The TVLA can f*ck off.
Adam
In message , Mike writes
Unless you already have a big monitor, I've found I've used iPlayer more since I rigged up a puter to the TV. It's still a CRT so done via S--video. can sit back in comfort on the sofa. Even the streamed stuff is ok on the TV when using the higher bitrate streams. Though you need a reasonable speed ADSL connection for that
Angle Grinder ...
:-)
Do I need a TV licence to watch programmes on BBC iPlayer?
So as long as your mouse finger does not stray somewhere it shouldn't it should be OK.
However, I'm not an ex-media studies student, and I've no idea how /they/ interpret either the law or the technicalities of television broadcasting.
No, but it ought to be - to watch him, as it were. .
You can even refuse to let him enter your premises and refuse to answer any of his questions.
So everyone who has a pc or laptop needs to buy a TV licence? Not in this country; though that is the position in Sweden.
The law states that a licence is required to watch or record programs when they are being broadcast. If you're not watching them you don't.
A year or so back the Sunday Times carried a story on the well known people who don`t have a tv licence but have tv`s.These are people who appear on television and are known as "celebrities". There are several hundred of these people. They write to TV Licencing and tell them they are not paying to watch the rubbish that is currently broadcast.They do not try to say they do not watch their tv`s.TV Licencing does not harrass them or threaten them like it does the common people. One of the people named that stuck in my mind was Noel Edmunds.I know,that`s why I put the "celebrities" in inverted commas.
You should shoved it unopened into a postbox with your name and address blanked out with the words "UNWANTED JUNKMAIL RETURN TO SENDER" written across it.
When I cancelled my AA membership I received a nice letter thanking me for my previous years membership and a welcome back offer should I want to rejoin them in the future.
When I cancelled my TV licence I was sent threatening letters saying I am breaking the law.
Adam
These are simply not comparable. How, having cancelled your AA membership, could you continue to receive their services for free? If there was some foolproof technology whereby you *couldn't* watch TV without a licence I'm sure TVLA would be just as polite, but the regrettable fact is that many people cancel their licence with the intention of continuing to watch TV without paying.
Richard.
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