BBC unveils radical revamp of website

[Blue Velvet]

...To be in a situation where you have to suffer an invasion of privacy just to prove that you don't want to buy a product is, quite frankly, bollocks.

You won't find me disagreeing with that. It is bollocks but what would be even more galling is to be put down for a TV license for merely owning a computer.

 

[Project]

You know how TV tuners require a license? What if I was simply watching previous episodes of the Apprentice on the BBC website? Woudl that require a TV license?

 

[Nickygoat]

There's an interesting piece in the Sunday Times about the proposal. The writer (Bryan Appleyard) points out that one of the justifications for the licence fee is the "market failure" theory - the BBC with a guaranteed revenue stream should be making programmes that the commercial sector would find economically unviable. Those programmes that are made by both public and private broadcasters eg. game shows, news, current affairs etc. should be of a higher standard at the BBC than commercially made ones. The fact that they aren't necessarily doing so is an area of concern.

It will be part of an extra £5.5 billion spening over the next 10 years and, to fund it, the BBC wants the licence fee raised, year by year, from its present level of £131.50 to more than £180 by 2013. Tessa Jowell, the culture secretary, has signalled that this is seen as no more than “an opening bid”. But the BBC has already sweet-talked her into giving away an even bigger prize. She has guaranteed the licence fee itself will continue for the next 10 years.

*
“They played her beautifully, like a trout,” said one embittered ITV executive.

My highlighting. I laughed good and hard at that one - it makes you wonder what goes through the minds of people at ITV

 

[Brize]

You know how TV tuners require a license? What if I was simply watching previous episodes of the Apprentice on the BBC website? Woudl that require a TV license?

According to the licensing authority, you only need a licence to view online content if the programme is being streamed at roughly the same time as it's being broadcast on television.

As Blue and others have noted though, the licensing authority will doubtless revisit this rule if the BBC make their entire programming output available online.

The obvious solution would be to restrict access to the seven-day archive by using a verified login, which could then be cross-referenced with the TV Licensing database.

 

[steve_hill4]

They may say that since 97% of the UK population has, or should have, a licence, limiting it to UK IP addresses should be sufficient. After all, most of the 3% without a TV (excluding BV of course) may not have any interest in watching TV on their computer either.

Well, I do know someone that hasn't had a TV or license for a couple of years, but he will still download certain programs via torrents that he wants to watch.

My girlfriend had to buy a TV license even though she only used her TV for games consoles.
The laws are strange. Scanning equipment isn't that good either. My lecturer has no TV, yet he had those TV scanner people saying that he was watching TV. Turns out those scanners only see electronics in general, or something like that. They searched his home after he constantly denied ever having a TV or radio.

Yes, you need a license for any item that you cannot prove you are not using for receiving TV I think. It would be like saying, "prove you aren't using this TV for TV." The way they can scan for TV is because when you receive a signal, it needs to be processed before actual hearing and/or seeing it. To do this, it is moved to an unused local frequency, hence re-transmitted to yourself. They can pick up which houses are doing this and assume you are watching TV by the frequency, (different to radio), however can't force their way into your house without a court order to do so. A lot of the detector vans turn up and don't even test, just accuse you of having a TV, (this is what has happened to the above mentioned person). They may claim to have detected it as a bluff.