OT: "Do I need a TV licence"

Hi all,

Just something that came up in discussion today .. thought someone here might know .. (sorry if this has been up recently, couldn't see it)

Do you need a TV licence if you DON't watch (or record then watch) broadcast (or cable supplied) TV?

What if you have a TV / Video / DVD player and only watch pre-recorded films etc?

Is it a matter of them proving that you *were* watching BBC1 or whatever or simply that you had the abilty to do so (because the TV / Video had a UHF tuner etc). What if you don't have an aerial (what if you do?).

The licensing web site only states:

"If you use a TV or any other device to receive or record TV programmes (for example, a VCR, set-top box, DVD recorder or PC with a broadcast card) - you need a TV Licence. You are required by law to have one"

So, what are the real world interpretations of the above please?

All the best ..

T i m (full TV and RA license holder )

Reply to
T i m
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AFAIK in that case you don't need a TV licence, but you should *not* have an aerial lead connected and should "untune" all presets to an unused channel.

Reply to
Andy Burns

I believe the licence is required in order to install or use equipment capable of receiving TV broadcasts (including boradcasts by satellite and cable).

It really comes down to what is meant by "install" - if you have a TV but no aerial, and the TV is only used for watching prerecorded videos / DVDs then that is OK.

If you have a TV and aerial, but the aerial lead is unplugged although sitting beside the TV, and the TV is tuned in, then that is probably not OK, since the aerial lead could be plugged / unplugged in seconds.

Anywhere in between the above, e.g. TV in a different room to the aerial, etc might be a grey area and ultimately it would be up to a judge.

Bear in mind that the TV licence enforcement officers (or whatever they are called) are just civilian employees of a private company and have no powers of search or entry unless accompanied by a police constable, who would also probably require a valid search warrant.

IANAL

(also a TV licence holder...)

Reply to
Alistair Riddell

What's the point in having a set then?

Mary who doesn't have a tv licence ...

Reply to
Mary Fisher

For watching DVDs, using a games console, monitoring CCTV ...

Reply to
Rob Morley

Nope. You need a licence to install or use equipment to recieve TV broadcasts.

Detuning is not legally required, but may make it easier if the soulless minions of orthodoxy descend on you.

Reply to
Ian Stirling

Then you would have a monitor, there is no need to have a TV set (which implies a set with a tuning device), if it's capable of receiving then the chances are it will do so.

Reply to
:::Jerry::::

I think the argument about no aerial is false: o Lack of a roof aerial or cable to such doesn't mean much o Many TVs have a rear loop aerial, or can use an internal aerial

It comes down to receiving a television programme. o A TV in an unoccupied home does not require a licence o However your house insurance soon becomes void :-)

The note about entry may also be false: o Detection equipment is used to prove a TV is in use

---- indeed exactly what channel is being watched o That may be sufficient in itself to issue proceedings

---- as opposed to gaining physical entry via warrant

I do know the detection equipment is range limited: o Wardens of many Halls Of Residence refuse Detection Staff entry o Since they can't get entry, they can't get 1600+ students to pay £120

Legally: o They must have to prove a broadcast channel was being watched o A TV on & tuned to the big-bang itself can not be enough Practically: o IIRC they have a list of addresses without TV licences o They probably use simple postcode s/w to identify location clusters o Then simply drive around & scan - around news/popular TV time

I don't think they are at stage of datalogging on a lamp-post :-) If they were, there would be a lot of unbroken Adshell bus shelters if they linked it up to a camera with a glass breakage detector :-)

The scanners are now small computer-controlled hand-held units.

People who have argued they just watched videos have been fined, but I suspect there was also proof of plain BBC1 TV watching also :-)

Comes down to asking them.

The dbase sellers to HMG are making a strong point of the sharing of dbase info - including market research - specifically for the use of data-mining with regarding to what-if taxation projections. There is the cover of national security re profiling from library cards upwards. That is true of the USG in particular, in a much bigger way.

Reply to
Dorothy Bradbury

Yes, that is what it states on the TV licence.

So if the equipment has a pug (or other power connection) and has a working tuner and is installed then you need a licence. The word to note above is 'OR' (You need a licence to install _or_ use equipment), the equipment doesn't need to be used to be 'installed'.

Reply to
:::Jerry::::

No, wrong. Mine arrived this morning, and I quote:-

On the front-

"What this licence allows:

-You and anyone living at the premises ...

-TO INSTALL _AND_ USE colour and black and white....

On the back- "You need a licence to install or use any equipment _to receive or record television programme services_ - for example...

The web site says; "Do I need a licence? - If you use a TV or any other device to _receive or record TV programmes_ (for example, a VCR, set-top box, DVD recorder or PC with a broadcast card) - you need a TV Licence. You are required by law to have one."

Note the _receive_. Doesn't say anything about install!

Reply to
Andrew Chesters

Look on the BACK under "What you need an TV licence for".....

....and read the rest of what is printed as well.

Reply to
:::Jerry::::

You snipped, but did not say you had, the following:-

television programme services_ - for example...

See? To "_receive or record_" NOT "to play DVDs, use CCTV or anything else".

TO RECEIVE OR RECORD TELEVISION PROGRAMMES.

Reply to
Andrew Chesters

message

pre-recorded

record television programme services_ - for example...

For f*ck sake.... :~(

To quote it in full...

_WHAT YOU NEED A TV LICENCE FOR_

TO INSTALL OR USE ANY EQUIPMENT TO PROGRAMME SERVICES - FOR EXAMPLE A TELEVISION SET, VIDEO RECORDER, SET TOP BOX, PC WITH BROADCAST CARD OR ANY OTHER TV RECEIVING EQUIPMENT.

As I said implied before, read it, not what you wish it to say !

The operative word is 'OR, install OR use, you don't need to use for the equipment to be installed. Any equipment with a working tuner is capable of use if it's installed, nor is there need of an external antenna.

Reply to
:::Jerry::::

Oops, missed out what you had already quoted...

It should read;

_WHAT YOU NEED A TV LICENCE FOR_

TO INSTALL OR USE ANY EQUIPMENT TO RECEIVE OR RECORD TELEVISION PROGRAMME SERVICES - FOR EXAMPLE A TELEVISION SET, VIDEO RECORDER, SET TOP BOX, PC WITH BROADCAST CARD OR ANY OTHER TV RECEIVING EQUIPMENT.

As I said, the critical word is 'OR'.

Reply to
:::Jerry::::

I'm capable of killing you by hitting you over the head with a baseball bat.

My owning a baseball bat is not an offence, unless I use the baseball bat for that.

Reply to
Ian Stirling

This matter comes up frequently. It comes in the same category as parking charges for an Ikea store.

What's the problem? Why aren't people prepared to pay for what they use? Why not obey the law?

I don't know what a licence costs because we don't have one (no television - and we've been inspected) but it can't cost much per week - probably less than it takes to earn in the time folk take to argue about it.

If we had a tv we'd have a licence, whether we watched BBC or not. We pay our road fund licences which, it could be argued, give us little in return.

Only criminals don't obey the law.

Mary

Reply to
Mary Fisher

But it comes down to semantics, essentially how you *expand* the "OR" I would read it as ...

"to INSTALL any equipment to receive/record television programme services" OR "to USE any equipment to receive/record television programme services"

you are choosing to reading it as ...

"to INSTALL any equipment" OR "to USE any equipment to receive/record television programme services"

Reply to
Andy Burns

Read the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949.

You need a licence to INSTALL equipment.....

You need a licence to USE equipment.....

Installation without a licence is an offence. Use without a licence is a further offence.

Regardless of what their web site says.

Reply to
Frank Erskine

I think you will find that the word 'OR' has but one meaning in law.

If they had meant 'To install AND use any equipment to receive' they would have said that. In other words one (install) is not linked to the other (use), one or the other holds up on it's own IYSWIM.

Reply to
:::Jerry::::

I think if you wish to use your TV in this way you would be very well advised to REMOVE the tuners in both the TV and VCR.

These are often quite identifiable modules whose removal will have little impact on the function of the rest of the apparatus for your purposes.

My friend wrote and told them that he had done this and that did stop the nagging letters about TV licencing.

You will then no longer have equipment capable of receiving broadcasts and I believe you will then no longer need a licence.

What's more then RF and IF stages wont be there to be picked up by the detectors.

The only people who might just get away without a license are people who live in a largish and irregulars block of flats. A person unfamiliar with the precise layout could not be certain of the extent of your dwelling. Nevertheless you would only have to be called on one evening whilst the TV's on and go to the door with it playing in the background...

Reply to
Ed Sirett

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