From the officals at
http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/information/students.jsp
If you buy a licence, you can reclaim 3 months worth at the summer.
Your parents licence will cover it if you ONLY watch tv while on batteries and not plugged into the mains.
soo
if i watch it through the eyetv programme with my little usb tuner...
on my macbook, without the macbook being plugged in...
i am in no need of a license?
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TV licence fraud?
- Thread starter McBob
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Nope.
If you read the earlier extract ...
... you will see that TV Licensing (a private collection agency) is now careful to state that the licence is required if you use any device to receive and watch or record as it is being broadcast. This includes watching any broadcast TV including streaming of live events but excludes download of archived programmes. A licence is NOT required if the device is used solely for playing DVDs or VCRs.
The conditions are seldom fully explained so it is a true case of FUD.
Over the years the collection agency has been guilty of telling half truths and strong arm tactics. Plenty of sad stories on the web including pensioners being bullied into paying when there was no need (including one old lady who was given a VCR/TV by her son so she could watch videos; the TV set had never been tuned in to broadcast so when the inspectors called they started tuning the TV, found a station, then tried to force her to pay the licence).
soo if i watch it through the eyetv programme with my little usb tuner...
on my macbook, without the macbook being plugged in...
i am in no need of a license?
My Point Exactly!
Robx
As an Aussie who moved to the UK 18 months ago, I have to disagree. Just because those in Australia don't pay a 'license', do you think TV is free? Currently ABC is funded by Government grants, totalling around A$800 million a year - which, comes from, tax and other commercial activites, such as selling programs. However, given the quality of Australian broadcasting I severley doubt they make more than a couple of dollars.
I'm happy to pay for the BBC, which while I'm sure waste as much £ as any other bureaucracy, they provide the majority of international news broadcasts. I can't count the number of times a breaking story on CNN or ABC is from a weell known BBC journo. Moreover, while far from perfect, it is certaintly one of the most unbiased news channels... and has/is producing some of the best comedy/drama to be seen. Red Dwarf, Two Pints, Black Adder, The Office (UK version)...
Maybe one should question why with all that money the majority of shows on Aussie TV are American sit coms.
And please, don't mention Mcleods Daughters
Yes, I know its not ABC...I guess what I'm saying, is that its not all black and white. Personally I'll take a hit for the BBC to earn pounds and pay way less tax than I did in Adelaide...
I also keep meaning to ask Fox Digital why when getting bleeding edge digital cable in Aus 2 years ago, I recieved an old Sky TV remote and box from circa 1990...
After seeing Sky Digital, I don't think I could ever own a TV in Aus without crying.
No, you do actually pay a license for receiving TV, including commercial programs that are not funded by the license, but _not_ for the _ability_ to receive it. So if you own a TV, and never use it to watch TV programs, you are not technically liable to pay the license. On the other hand, if the TV is located directly besides an antenna outlet (and the cable magically disappeared when someone checked it), a court might not believe you that you never watched TV. It is actually very unlikely to believe you.
I note that the licence fee has been increasing steadily above inflation but the fine (max £1000) has been steady for years. Before too long it will be worth the risk not to pay!
Don't buy one.
When I stayed in halls last year, we used to get endless letters from the TV Licensing telling us to get one. No one bought one.
As a student watching TV on your laptop, there is nothing they can do when they ring your door. They can ask to come into your room to check, and you can tell them to piss off and come back with a warrant to search your room. So you just unplug your aerial and the evidence is gone.
Watching TV on your laptop is a lot easier to get away with without paying when you do get searched - it isn't illegal to have an aerial lying in your room if you don't own a TV license.
When I stayed in halls last year, we used to get endless letters from the TV Licensing telling us to get one. No one bought one.
As a student watching TV on your laptop, there is nothing they can do when they ring your door. They can ask to come into your room to check, and you can tell them to piss off and come back with a warrant to search your room. So you just unplug your aerial and the evidence is gone.
Watching TV on your laptop is a lot easier to get away with without paying when you do get searched - it isn't illegal to have an aerial lying in your room if you don't own a TV license.
Where your opportunities to even get into University may be greatly diminished depending on financial position.
I rarely watch TV these days, but would never dream of not paying for my license. If I thought that as a student I shouldn't pay, that the BBC shouldn't be publicly funded or should be held more accountable, I would consider lobbying my MP, petitioning the PM or other means to put my point across or change the law. If you're not prepared to do so, by not having a license and watching TV, you are breaking the law. The alternative is to ditch your TV all together.
Whilst commercial TV can produce some real gems at times, recently the pressures felt by them has dragged the overall content quality down significantly. If the license fee disappeared and the BBC became a commercial TV company, (which I do think is inevitable anyway), it's almost certain the quality will drop even further. As a publicly funded broadcaster though, they currently have a remit to broadcast a certain number of hours of programming for different genres. While ITV do also, they seem to think these days they can bend the rules by "Dog Wardens From Hell" being factual and pushing The South Bank Show to midnight or beyond, but still broadcasting to help fulfil hours to the arts.
I know this may be an odd question, but what the heck is a TV license? Is it mandatory or only if you wish to get cable? Is it basically just cable service or?
Its the way the public broadcasting service in Britain, the BBC, is funded. Back in the days when TVs were rare (in the late 30's) the TV license was a way of funding a public broadcasting service by making only those who were watching it pay. If you have a TV or other equipment capable of receiving a TV signal in the UK (like a VCR), you are required to pay the licence fee of about $260 per year (for a colour TV). They even had a radio fee but that was stopped in the late 60's.