Re: TV licence for watching online live streams
 

Re: TV licence for watching online live streams
 

OK but you are in a minority.

Re: TV licence for watching online live streams
 

Neighbour doesn't have a TV, and hasn't had once since 2005. They get harrassed about 3 times a year by TV Licence Inspectors, who refuse to believe they don't have a TV hidden away somewhere.

They have even let the inspectors search their proprty, on multiple occasions, and each time the inspectors go away empty handed, but they still keep coming. One inspector tried to claim that they needed a licence for their computer because they might watch TV on that. Their computer has no tuner card, I know for a fact because I built it, and maintain it for them.

Annoying people them inspectors, however he did his research and he knows the TV licencing laws as good as any lawyer.

You only need a licence to watch or record a TV broadcast while it is being broadcast.

If someone else records it for you, and you watch that recording, no licence is needed.

No licence is needed to own a TV or equipment capable of recieving a TV broadcast, provided its not used to watch or record a live broadcast.

etc

Re: TV licence for watching online live streams
 

First things first - the inspectors get a bounty for each household they sign up for a licence. That's why they keep coming back. In fact, it certainly used to be the case that they could sign up a house for a Direct Debit, then when they cancel their DD 6 months later go back, sign them up again and get a second bounty - repeat endlessly for further enrichment. This was in the mid 2000s, it may have changed now, but I did know one inspector who made a tidy sum out of it.

Second - you don't need a tuner card in your PC to watch live TV on it. That hasn't been the case for some years now, with the explosion in live streaming services, not least from the BBC. The inspector is of course still wrong to claim your neighbour needs a licence for owning a piece of equipment that 'could be' used for watching TV.

Re: TV licence for watching online live streams
 

Tuner card is irrelavant.. If they stream programs off the sites (for example the BBC news or sports site) at the same time as it's being shown on TV then you need a licence..

So for example all the F1 Free practice, qualifying and the race itself would need TV licence if watching/recording it live

Re: TV licence for watching online live streams
 

..and even then, it's upto TV Licencing to PROVE someone is actually using equipment to watch TV programmes as they are being shown