31 Mar 2014, 5:32 pm
BirdInFlight wrote:
And to the person who seems to be defending the system, and who asked how many free channels there are in the US -- actually about the same number as there are on Freeview in the UK. And then you have the paid ones, similar to the uk where if you want more than Freeview you sign up to Sky or whichever.
Ok, fair enough. I didn't know and now I do. I imagine that, like our "choice", it's mostly crap too. 
Also, If I was defending this system (I take it you mean me, since you've linked my question to that assertion) I wouldn't have posted the link I did in the first place, nor supported babybird, nor said that I'm probably going to dump my TV license, nor agreed with Fogman and Eccles_the_Mighty (I worked in electronics too and we both understand how ridiculous the detector vans are).
Maybe you're confusing my lack of swearing, and an interest in the details, with "defending the system"?
Quote:
BBC sucks a fat one for screwing the public.
It's not the BBC. The licence fee is set by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport by the use of Statutory Instruments and the BBC is authorised by the Communications Act 2003 to collect the licence fees.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television ... ing_system
Quote:
I've known people who were harassed endlessly about their refusal to pay the license fee. -- and one of them doesn't even own a TV...
Give them the link I provided at the top of the thread. If they don't have a TV and feel threatened by the letters, they should take action.
The current Royal Charter for the BBC expires on 31 December 2016 and what happens after that should prove interesting - I think there's going to be some resistance to simply reinstating it as it currently stands, and I wonder if the proposed decriminalisation of this "offence" is a softener for what's to follow.
02 Apr 2014, 1:32 am
02 Apr 2014, 3:12 am
02 Apr 2014, 6:44 am
League_Girl wrote:
How do they know if someone doesn't use their TV to watch it and they only use it for DVDs and games? Can they shut off regular TV?
They can't know someone is watching "live" TV unless they're told by the person doing it, and this is how the prosecutions become possible.
Since TV is broadcast from a transmitter it's no more possible to shut it off on a per-receiver basis than it is to cut off sunshine on a per-person basis.
A subscription service is different, but shutting off programs to a customer is up to the company providing the service - they can't be forced to stop selling it to a specific customer because there are issues with their TV license.
