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TV Licence - paranoid question


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Apologies if this is the wrong section of the forum.

 

I do not own a television, nor do I have an aerial socket in my flat.

 

I do own two computers and a smart phone.

 

As far as I can tell, I do not need a TV licence.

 

However I am very wary of arranging a visit from the licence people as I'm worried the info on their site has lulled me into a false sense of security. Will they claim I can watch live streaming TV through my computers?

 

Does anyone have any experience of this? Thanks in advance.

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Hmmm interesting question.

There is no doubt that they will claim you can watch live streaming because you can. The question is whether they can categorically state you have been watching live streaming.

I'll go have a dig around and see what I can find.

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I suppose technically they could find out if you had watched live streaming by checking your browsing history on your comp but I doubt they will go to those lengths or even if they have the power to do that.

Looking at the site and what they say I would say you have nothing to worry about. It looks like these visits are pretty routine.

 

FROM THEIR SITE:-

"In all cases, we may need a couple of minutes of your time

As it is our duty to ensure that everyone in the UK who needs a licence has one, we may visit your address to check that no licence is required. It's unfortunately necessary to do this, as when we make contact on these visits, almost one in five people are found to need a TV Licence. Please be assured that this is a routine visit, and will take no more than a few minutes. If we find during the visit that you do in fact need a licence, you'll need to pay the full licence fee, and you could risk prosecution and a fine of up to £1,000."

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Just contact TVL/BBC and remove their implied right of access to your property.

 

--------Simply ignore TVL/BBC. Their letters are computer-generated and sent out by the hundred-thousand. The purpose of these "official warnings" and threats of "imminent legal action" is psychologial rather than actual. Once this is realised, the letters cease to have any effect or credibility.

 

The same applies to street visits. If someone called at your door and asked to see whether you had a washing-machine or a food-mixer, would you let them in? Of course not, so why permit TVL/BBC to look for a TV, video or DVD player? People who work for TVL/BBC have no more right to enter private residences than people selling dusters.

 

Without entry, TVL/BBC have no sure means of knowing whether a house has equipment set up to receive broadcasts. That is why they rely on mass mailshots, declaring messages such as, "This is your final warning". They rely on householders' own reaction to these letters, and on self-incrimination during street visits. Without YOUR co-operation, TVL/BBC is impotent.

 

What about search warrants? Before a search warrant can be issued, TVL/BBC must satisfy the court that they have "reasonable grounds" for believing that broadcasts are being received at the unlicenced address. The simple absence of a licence does not constitute this, nor does the householder's refusal to communicate with TVL/BBC. To obtain a search warrant, TVL/BBC must offer the court positive evidence, such as seeing or hearing a television, or the householder's own admission. Without such evidence, TVL/BBC cannot apply for a search warrant, and without a search warrant, they cannot enter. So, they are back to square one.-------

 

The licence fee is classified as a tax, and evasion is a criminal offence.

 

Since 1991, collection and enforcement of the licence fee is the responsibility of the BBC in its role as TV Licensing Authority.

The BBC pursues its licence fee collection and enforcement under the trading name "TV Licensing"

 

I say TVL/BBC because the TV Licencing Authority is a registered trademark owned by the BBC, It's a trading name, or brand name, for the BBC's licensing and sales operation.

 

The BBC has a contract with Captia to undertake the revenue collection work. Capita acknowledges the relationship between TVL and the BBC on its website, saying that "TV Licensing is the trading name used by the BBC's agents.

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http://www.bbctvlicence.com/Detector%20vans.htm

 

A letter to the BBC under the Freedom of Information Act asked how many vans there were, and how many were in operation on a given day, but the BBC declined to provide an answer.

 

Divulging the number of vans does not, in itself, prevent their effectiveness, any more than knowing the number of police cars undermines the police. Public knowledge that there is a large number of detector vans might be expected to increase prevention rather than reduce it. Therefore, the BBC's refusal to answer implies that the number of detector vans is small.

 

The possible number of detector vans is provided by DB Broadcast, the company that services the vans.

 

DB Broadcast says that there are two dedicated members of staff working on each of the vehicles every week, completing the vans in a six month period. The conclusion to be drawn is that there are 26 vans...., less one for servicing at any one time, is not a particularly large number and accounts for why they are not commonly seen on the roads.

 

If it is possible to place a man on the moon and split the atom, it would be surprising if it was not possible to detect a television on the other side of a wall.

 

Faulty or inaccurate speed cameras will cause injustice and bring the speed enforcement process into disrepute. It is in the interests of both motorists and enforcers to make the technology of speed cameras known, for scrutiny ensures credibility, and credibility secures convictions when the speeding laws are broken.

 

For TV detector devices to be credible, we have to know that they are reliable and accurate.

A question on the testing of vans, put to the BBC under the Freedom of Information Act.

 

Courts cannot convict without evidence, and evidence cannot be heard unless it is available to both prosecution and defence. Since TVL/BBC is also unwilling to divulge the inner workings of a detector van, after a F.O.I request, its evidence cannot be used in a prosecution.

 

"calibration records...are not available for viewing by the public".

 

If the public do not have access to the calibration records, nobody outside TVL/BBC can know whether the vans are working correctly. Consequently, any information obtained by the vans cannot be used in an evidential way.

 

Most of the people who are taken to court and fined for not having a TV License are women, I would presume because when TVL/BBC come to visit you, its the women who answer the door as the men are at work.

 

If Argos came to your house and asked to come in to see how many radios you had, would you let them in?? NO

 

They have no power to enter your home, tell them to go fourth and multiply if they turn up, they can't prosecute with no evidence, they rely on you letting them in and answering their questions and dropping yourself in it.

 

I'm not condoning watching TV without a Licence, I'm just saying that if you don't genuinely need one, don't be bullied into buying one, or harassed by the home-visits by TVL/BBC.

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