TV licence for watching online live streams

formula_86 · 08-11-2010, 22:50

I know this may have been discussed in similar ways, and please forgive me if I have posted this in the wrong section, but:

I understand the TV licensing laws of needing a licence for watching online live streams, but how it is properly enforced is another thing altogether.

I know if in an extreme case they wanted to find out, they could ask your ISP, but other than that, surely their so called "detector vans" with magic detection equipment can't detect what you are doing on your PC can they?

I read somewhere that if you have a Wi-Fi network, even if it is passworded, the TVL people, they'll bring laptops with them and use packet sniffing software for hacking into your network to check if your are watching live streams illeagally.

nomadking · 08-11-2010, 23:11

From TV Licensing website

Quote:

Watching TV on the internetYou need to be covered by a licence if you watch TV online at the same time as it's being broadcast on conventional TV in the UK or the Channel Islands.

Eg if you watched 'Blade Runner' using BBC iPlayer whilst it was being broadcast on BBC3, you would need a license, but if you used iPlayer to watch it now, you wouldn't.

formula_86 · 08-11-2010, 23:23

What I wanted to know was is there anyway whatsoever they can detect what you are doing on your computer?

Wild Oscar · 08-11-2010, 23:35

Interesting question .. I don't think so.

.. but as far as I know you need a licence for just listening to the radio .. unless they've changed the rules.

nomadking · 08-11-2010, 23:37

There's no mention of detecting internet usage in their detection webpage. If you have a TV tuner card/device in use, they could detect that.

08-11-2010, 23:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by nomadking

There's no mention of detecting internet usage in their detection webpage. If you have a TV tuner card/device in use, they could detect that.

doesn't the retailer have to notify the tv licensing when a tv tuner card is purchased ,as they do if you buy a tv ?

**Chris** · 08-11-2010, 23:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wild Oscar

Interesting question .. I don't think so.

.. but as far as I know you need a licence for just listening to the radio .. unless they've changed the rules.

They changed the rules in 1971.

Although at the time it was stated that the radio licence was being merged into the TV licence, in practice from that date you could listen to radio without any licence at all.

Wild Oscar · 09-11-2010, 00:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris

They changed the rules in 1971.

I didn't know that! I remember my old dad having a row with the TV licensing people from way back then as he was a radio ham at the time .. quite funny thinking about it now!

Waldo Pepper · 13-11-2010, 07:06

TV detector vans are a myth. A scare story put out by the BBC. They exist, but cannot pin point a TV user in a block of flats.

They used to focus on a 35MHz Intermediate frequency emitted by the old TVs. LCDs & Plasmas emit so much stuff, not only would you struggle to find it, but trying to DF on it is nigh impossible.

They rely on the fact that every household has a TV and target those addresses that don't have a TVL.

As for seeing if you watch TV over the Internet would require a court order to your Internet provider and that may be too expensive for them.

In my student days a house next door had ~3 TVs and the silly looking van used to drive up and down about once a week and they were never even given a knock on the door.

Jon T · 13-11-2010, 09:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Waldo Pepper

TV detector vans are a myth. A scare story put out by the BBC. They exist, but cannot pin point a TV user in a block of flats.

They used to focus on a 35MHz Intermediate frequency emitted by the old TVs. LCDs & Plasmas emit so much stuff, not only would you struggle to find it, but trying to DF on it is nigh impossible.

And the line timebase frequency of 15,625KHz, which LCD's/Plasma's don't have.

MTJR · 13-11-2010, 12:54

I would have thought that they could track an IP address to a certain point and then maybe cross reference that with any accounts that are used for posting on blogs and stuff. So from that I would guess that a techie could make an educated guess. Although I doubt they'd be bothered.

Just the ability to receive a TV signal is what requires you to have a TV licence irrespective of what you watch on it, even if you only watch DVD's or games on it. I'm not sure if anyone has actually challenged that in a court of law.

Utlimately the BBC will do whatever they can to maximise their revenue. Although I'm sure it's all perfectly legal.

John

dilli-theclaw · 13-11-2010, 12:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by MTJR

Just the ability to receive a TV signal is what requires you to have a TV licence irrespective of what you watch on it, even if you only watch DVD's or games on it. I'm not sure if anyone has actually challenged that in a court of law.

No it isn't.

http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/faqs/FAQ15/

Kymmy · 13-11-2010, 12:59

It used to be.. but as Dilli points out it's no more and hasn;t been that way for I think a decade

**Chris** · 13-11-2010, 14:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kymmy

It used to be.. but as Dilli points out it's no more and hasn;t been that way for I think a decade

Actually I don't think it's ever been a requirement to hold a licence simply to possess equipment capable of receiving broadcasts. The licence has I think always been to permit their use.

MTJR · 13-11-2010, 15:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by dilligaf1701

No it isn't.

http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/faqs/FAQ15/

Hmm. I stand corrected on that one.

The bit I don't understand is how anyone can prove (either way) whether you use your TV to watch or not watch TV. A knock at the door, whip the cable out and who's to say you were watching it? All seems a bit of a grey area to me.

If you were setting up a website to record the live TV then surely that would need licensing wouldn't it? Let alone a shed load of storage space.

John