shirl

That is terrible, that is like saying you must have a TV Licence so go buy a TV. What happened to freedom and choices!

roaringmouse

Not quite, you don't need a tv license if you use your TV only to watch DVDs or play video games, or you only watch ‘catch up’ services like BBC iPlayer or 4oD - reference.

shazmataz

When your son buys his licence make sure he buys it on the 1st of the month.
All TV licences are renewable at the end of the previous month that they were originally purchased. Happened to me. Paid full license fee on July 29th only to find out it was only valid until June 30th. When I complained to the authorities I was basically told "Too bad, that's the law".
Out of principal I never renew it until July 22nd, which is the date I first bought a TV.

mikelincs

Think you might just have difficulties in proving that though.

rebs

It can be done though...

My sister has a holiday home for which she does not have a tv licence. She has an old tv that she watches dvds on and they accepted her declaration that she does not watch live tv.

I guess it might get easier to prove going forward as the tv she has is so old that it cannot receive a digital tv signal so it wouldn't work anyway.

chocciecake

they can come to your door, but hey have no right to enter...!
you can only get done if you let them in, why would you?) and you are found watching tv without a licence!
if you refuse to let them in, theres nothing they can do!!
when we lived in london, we used to get the threatening letters all the time, which were deposited into the bin...i find it very rude that they know nothing about you or your habits, but see fit to assume you are doing the wrong thing, and threaten all sorts of punishment as a scare tactic!
for what its worth, we never had a television...we had better things to do, and if we ever did watch something, it was on bbc iplayer, after the broadcast, or 40d.... still the same here in wales, although we have never been bothered by the licencing people here yet, in over a year.

calliope

I used to work with someone who didn't have a TV set and he got bothered loads of times by whoever checks up on these things - intimidating him, etc., demanding to see inside his house.

Now, if they had the tech to do this remotely why would they need actually to go inside his house and see?

scottydog357

The TV licence is actually a BBC thing. If you have a TV capable of receiving BBC channels, then you require a licence. Technically licence is required, as every TV is capable of receiving BBC, and you have no way of proving you never watch BBC channels.

sallysimmons

If they gave people the freedom to choose, most people would avoid paying and the BBC would die. I think that would be the death knell for freedom.

The media here is alive and kicking, doing great investigatory journalism, and holding to account the rich and the powerful (witness Rupert Murdoch for one). There's only one reason for that and it's the BBC, doing much of the reporting, but also setting the benchmark that everyone else has to live up to.

In America, the media is bought and paid for by large corporations. The American public is kept in ignorance about the things that most affect their lives, and no one - NO ONE - is ever held accountable.

Because of what I've experienced elsewhere, I was proud to come home and pay for my license to help keep the institution going.

mikelincs

Without the license there would be no BBC, so yes, buy a license and get programmes where you don't get interruptions very few minutes trying to persuade you to buy the latest car etc. or sponsorship messages before and after every slab of the programme.

rebs

I didn't read Shirl's comment as a criticism of the BBC, but rather of the automatic assumption that every home has a tv - ie where is the freedom to choose not to have a tv and not have to justify that decision to any kind of authority.

That's how I interpreted the comment, of course I could be completely wrong

Pollyana

When I emigrated I gave my TV away and cancelled the licence about 3 months before I actually left. In that time I had about 30 letters, including threats to prosecute me for not having a licence. Shocking level of harrassment, especially as when I returned the licence for a refund I had stated the TV was sold and I was emigrating.

brissybee

Can't non tv watchers just let the tv spies in for a look at the non tv house and get rid of them once and for all?

For those who do have a tv, I agree with those who say a licence is worth it to keep the streams of shite advertising at bay.

rebs

Why should they have to though? It's not a crime to not have a tv...

brissybee

No, you're right... but after years of fighting systems (which are stupid) I have found that sometimes it's easier just to opt out of the fight... and if letting some twerp into my lounge for a look at something that wasn't there got rid of a stream of stressful letters, I'd let the twerp in for a look.

Of course it would be tempting to give the looking twerp other things to look at. Like underwear hanging from light fittings, snarling dogs tied to thin stringed leads, cardboard boxes with fake tv screens and cut out pictures of the tv licence van where the screen should be.

You see now why I fight the urge to fight the system.