withabix

So it is happening in a month:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-36942458

Hopefully the work-around will only involve a UK-based friend 'sharing' their UK TV Licence number with you....

Pulaski

The stupidest thing is that the BBC doesn't even offer an "honest" way for expats to get BBC service overseas.

How much money has the BBC spent on technology trying to stop people, many of whom would willingly pay for service, from accessing their programs?

Steve_

BBC means something entirely different in N America.

Conmar

BristolUK

According to the Guardian this only affects the 2% of households that use iPlayer but not TV.

Even if you ignore the money spent attempting to block access, it would be interesting to compare the revenue from that 2% with potential revenue from the number of willing subscribers abroad.




I wonder how many BE members (and others) have VPNs for the sole or main reason of accessing iPlayer. I know some do it for Netflix but that's relatively recent.

Pulaski

It seems fairly common for BEers, but I suspect that they aren't even the tip of the iceberg of expats who use a VPN to access BBC TV coverage.

BristolUK

I remember one of the arguments against the BBC charging Brits abroad for being able to watch TV was something about broadcasting rights preventing them from broadcasting to people in those countries.

This appears to have been resolved now with Brits being able to view the output abroad so long as they've paid the licence fee, although I suppose there's some technicality that means licence fee payers have to be UK resident

Pulaski

I believe that to be the case.

Tirytory

I read the page and it seems that you can't have two devices plugged in at the same time... Can they really detect that?

Boo... Bake Off and Strictly start soon- I need a way round this!!!

BristolUK

Filmon and Camposat...two names for the same thing. I've only used it live but I believe there's some kind of download/"record" option. I think N2O, among others, does that.

zymurgy

I'm panicking at losing Later with Jools Holland, the great documentaries and even The Apprentice...I wonder if any of the VPN companies will be offering some kind of workaround? It may be harder than it seems to talk someone in the UK into sharing their codes, since the telly laws are very strict indeed and the penalties significant.

Pulaski

I think the problem will be that they go after the UK resident who shares their code, so tapping in to your relative's TV licence may put them in a very awkward position. Much as I would like continued access to BBC TV, I wouldn't put my mother or sister in the situation of risking prosecution for breach of the TV licensing law.

magnumpi

Just register and pay a small fee then you can record on the Filmon app

withabix

But how do they know that it isn't the 'relative' that is using Iplayer, especially if you're using a service that thinks you are in the UK (such as Roku) via a DNS or VPN and that 'relative' doesn't have internet anyway??

You could be watching on a public wifi service or a neighbour's open router or a non-static IP address, so they probably would have difficulty controlling this via IP unless they use something similar to Netflix.

DNS fools bank websites (some that have locality login restrictions), Tesco Clubcard and the Lottery for example.

There probably isn't anything to stop you from buying an extra TV Licence for an address in the UK either if you have a UK bank account.

BristolUK

You mean it's not free to 'record'? Outrageous.

They probably upgraded the TV detector vans.
Seriously, even if they could, the licence is supposed to cover all TVs in your house (and your student offspring away at Uni) and if you are allowed to be on your hols and watch when out of the country, it's entirely likely you could be doing that legally while someone was watching legally at home simultaneously.
I suppose a red flag might come up if it's for an address that already has one. But would they turn down extra revenue?