TV Licence Super Thread

robgmun · 16 Jan 2017 at 21:25

I'm moving into a new property in 4 months and will be buying a new TV, i'll be watching Blu-Rays, Netflix and a couple of non-live US TV i can't talk about here. The only things i watched the BBC for is Question Time and David Attenborougs Wildlife programmes. When he's dead there'll be nothing worth watching. I won't be getting a licence.

robfosters · 16 Jan 2017 at 21:28

I couldn't do without any live TV at all. Would feel a bit cut off not even having access to freeview channels.

kibblerok · 16 Jan 2017 at 21:58

Roar87 said:
Politically neutral

robfosters · 16 Jan 2017 at 22:01

Kenai said:
You will now get mocked by both a crowd of people saying 'LOL LEFTY LIBERAL BBC' and another saying 'BBC MIGHT AS WELL BE NAZI PROPAGANDA'.

Lefty liberal camp are correct. Have you ever seen a Question Time audience.

Tunney · 16 Jan 2017 at 22:09

robfosters said:
Lefty liberal camp are correct. Have you ever seen a Question Time audience.

Have you ever seen the panel? Question Time has given Nigel Farage a huge platform on national TV.

Tefal · 16 Jan 2017 at 22:12

Pottsey said:
That's completey wrong and unfair in my mind. It should never come out of general taxation. There is no good reason for that.

Maintainence of a warning/national emergancy communication system?

robfosters · 16 Jan 2017 at 22:13

Tunney said:
Have you ever seen the panel? Question Time has given Nigel Farage a huge platform on national TV.

That's only so he can be set upon by the audience. They do it so all we hear is everything Farage saying be met with a chorus of boos and "racist". They also have him on and load the rest of the panel with lefties to make him look like the odd one out.

wolfie138 · 17 Jan 2017 at 07:48

asim18 said:
I've first hand witnessed some seriously messed up NLP, subliminal messaging, the whole shebang, coming from them.

oh dear.

Pottsey · 17 Jan 2017 at 08:09

Tefal said:
Maintainence of a warning/national emergancy communication system?

BBC lost the contract for that years ago didn’t they? Kellogg Brown & Root Limited (KBR) won the main contract while Motorola Solutions and EE Limited won the mobile contract.

Tefal · 17 Jan 2017 at 08:12

Pottsey said:
BBC lost the contract for that years ago didn’t they? Kellogg Brown & Root Limited (KBR) won the main contract while Motorola Solutions and EE Limited won the mobile contract.

really?

oh, in that case i suppose the argument is simply for the bbcs research and standard developoment.

wonder if they could spin off the R&D side and fund that from tax and leave the broadcast/media side to the comercial market, cut significant costs and maintain the technical advantages,.

and bbc media side saves from being releived of its expensive research obligations.

CosmicClown · 17 Jan 2017 at 09:45

glen8 said:
there may be a way of avoiding the tv licence fee, just keep quiet

Nail. Head.

Worked for me for 11 years.

People read their letters with wording such as 'We are investigating you' and immediately contact them giving away all their personal details which then give them authority to prosecute.

That's called extortion through intimidation.

jonneymendoza · 17 Jan 2017 at 09:52

LOL thread revival geeze!

jonneymendoza · 17 Jan 2017 at 09:56

Gun9 said:
It's important that you understand the system so you don't get tripped up

First of all, the law says it is an offense to watch or record any live tv channels (or use BBC iplayer) without a tv licence.

It doesn't say "you must have a tv licence" merely that you can't watch live broadcasts without one.

It's an important difference because it means if tv licensing want to take any action against you they have to be able to prove that you watch or record live tv channels, not merely that you don't have a tv licence.

You can legally own a tv without a tv licence, and you can use it to watch DVDs, play games consoles, watch anything OnDemand (like Netflix etc) or watch anything on Catch Up (other than BBC iplayer which is a special case)

Tv licensing will write you lots of letters. There resources are limited and they don't have the time or the staff to visit every unlicensed address in the country.

They send lots of letters automatically by computer, in the hope that a letter or two will prompt you to voluntarily contact them to buy a licence, and save them the time, effort and expense of sending a salesmen to visit you.

We recommend that you ignore all these letters. They will keep pointing out in big letters that "you are breaking the law" then in small writing "if you are watching live broadcasts without a licence"

They will call their salesmen "enforcement officers" and use words like "investigation" in an attempt to convince you that this is official law enforcement business and try to make you assume that these "enforcement officers" have all sorts of legal powers, which they actually don't have.

These salesmen are ordinary members of the public, nothing more. They are door to door salesmen.

It's their job to try talking you into buying a tv licence, if you won't buy one, they want to convince you to change your mind.

To that end they'll try gathering evidence so they can take you to court so you change your mind about buying one in future (and to deter others from saying no).

If they want to take you to court they need to be able to prove to a magistrate that you do actually watch or record live broadcasts.

There are only 2 types of evidence that they can get. The first would be for them to actually be an eye witness. To get into your house and see for themselves that your tv is set up to receive live tv channels.

To that end they will ask you if they can come in to check your tv. They don't have the legal authority to enter your house unless you invite them in, just like any other member of the public. You can legally say no. You don't have to invite them into your house.

If they can't get you to invite them in, they will try to get the other type of evidence, a confession.

They'll ask you questions, "do you have a tv?" And "when did you last use your tv to watch live broadcasts?"

If you answer these questions they will record your answers and then ask you to sign the form to confirm everything on the form is correct. That form then becomes a signed confession of guilt.

That's all the evidence they need to then take you to court.

HOWEVER, I'm sure you've heard this before . . . YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT

You do not have to answer any questions. We strongly recommend that you don't. And we urge you to NEVER SIGN ANY PAPERWORK.

It's perfectly legal to say NO

They often tell people that if you don't cooperate they will come back with the police, that's a bluff because tv licensing is not a police matter, the police will not get involved with it. It's an idle threat to try intimidating you into cooperating.

It's perfectly legal to say NO

If they can get some form of evidence against you (eye witness or confession) they will then use that to apply for a court summons. To do that they need to fill in a form, and the first line on the form asks for "name of defendant"

Which is why we strongly recommend that you never give them, nor confirm, your name. If they don't know your name they can't even apply for a court summons to start a case.

We recommend that you ignore the letters they send, you don't have to respond.

It'll take them 6-7 months of trying letters before they commit to the time and effort of asking a salesmen to visit.

If one does, don't confirm your name (even if they seem to know it), don't invite them into your house and don't answer any questions.

Most importantly never sign any paperwork.

Refusing to cooperate is perfectly legal, so don't be afraid to just say "no thank you" and close the door.

Why did you revive this thread with info we all know and all mentioned in the last 20+ pages?

Tefal · 17 Jan 2017 at 10:07

jonneymendoza said:
Why did you revive this thread with info we all know and all mentioned in the last 20+ pages?

he didnt he made a new one mods merged them

Father Ted · 17 Jan 2017 at 10:16

asim18 said:
I don't know why people love the BBC so much. As a media entity they are just as dodgy as Fox et. al. but they're not as obvious as them, which is why they are actually more dangerous to society. I've first hand witnessed some seriously messed up NLP, subliminal messaging, the whole shebang, coming from them.

*Dons tin foil hat and hides nervously under the table...

Werewolf · 17 Jan 2017 at 11:12

asim18 said:
I've first hand witnessed some seriously messed up NLP, subliminal messaging, the whole shebang, coming from them.

Thanks for the smile

/wolfy looks at Father Ted's tin foil hat and gets out a lead lined fedora

*looks much more stylish*

ubersonic · 17 Jan 2017 at 12:00

jonneymendoza said:
LOL thread revival geeze!

This is a super thread, it's designed to never die, hence why the revival you refer too occurred six months ago and no mod cared.

asim18 · 17 Jan 2017 at 14:14

Werewolf said:
Thanks for the smile

/wolfy looks at Father Ted's tin foil hat and gets out a lead lined fedora

*looks much more stylish*

I'm happy to hear you smiled but it's actually pretty serious.

Did you watch Panorama last night? Absolute horse**** propaganda. John Sweeney is an absolute tool. I couldn't stop laughing when he antagonised people into leaving an interview and then pulled that puppydog face to tell the audience he couldn't possibly have said anything wrong.

That's nothing compared to the time they flashed a subliminal message telling black people to "Kill white police officers". That moment simply epitomised everything for me.

Tummy · 17 Jan 2017 at 14:16

Nasher said:
Politically neutral? lol yea right. Their left leaning and pro-EU stance is pretty clear.

Except it's not left leaning at all, nor pro EU.

Nasher · 17 Jan 2017 at 14:19

robfosters said:
That's only so he can be set upon by the audience. They do it so all we hear is everything Farage saying be met with a chorus of boos and "racist". They also have him on and load the rest of the panel with lefties to make him look like the odd one out.

This^

They just invited in a bunch of London hipsters to berate him.