Comments on: BBC iPlayer Linux screenshots

By: keninmarciac

keninmarciac — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 20:39:04 +0000

It seems no one has mentioned that it is possible to view any non scrambled TV station - BBC ITV , 4 and 5 with a digital receiver pointed at Astra in Europe (+ if big dish is used)for free (same principle as receiving UK radio stations abroad if you have a good aerial and good set)

By: Spambot

Spambot — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 09:08:19 +0000

Incorrect - the fee is only applicable for watching LIVE tv. Specifically, watching catchup tv over the internet is fine. It even says so on the paperwork. Also, just owning a tv is not sufficient. Get your facts straight before you rant.

/owns a tv
/does not watch tv
/uses iplayer for catchup
/no license & don’t need one

By: lala

lala — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 08:46:40 +0000

Maybe it could open up some of the content, like the news, and put up other content for a small fee. As an English language student I find there is not much sophisticated British content out there, except if local TV channels buy some from the BBC.

Besides, if you pay 300 Pounds a year, why couldn’t others also pay let’s say 15 Pounds to see a season of “League of Gentlemen” et. al. online or get downloads of the same?

Sometimes it is also quite hard to even get DVD releases of BBC series in certain countries.

By: lala

lala — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 08:41:34 +0000

Not really. You could employ Google to do it. It’d be something like we see on Facebook every day.

By: beojan

beojan — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 17:15:46 +0000

“to watch or record television programmes as they’re being shown on TV. ”

That is, you only need a license if you actually use the equipment to watch TV. If you buy a TV and keep it in the shed, you don’t need a license.

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 22:52:11 +0000

Just picking up on the verbage from the BBC licence fee website

“…..PC, laptop or mobile phone to watch or record television programmes as they’re being shown on TV.”

sure the lawyers could have fun with this one, but sounds to me that your device has to be capable of receiving & watching programmes as a live broadcast.

By: David

David — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 23:27:28 +0000

If you are watching live tv on your PC you should be paying a license fee. You are breaking the law if you are not.

By: Simon

Simon — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 00:15:43 +0000

It is possible to watch almost all UK tv outside the British Isles for free or for a very small fee (much less than the licence fee).

Almost all the freeview channels, the catchup and live online services of BBC ITV C4 and Five are available online and of sufficient quality to provide a viewing experience similar to vhs.

When combined with the better p2p apps and subscription to Setanta it is possible to have a package to rival Sky at a fraction of the cost.

The crazy thing is that in the UK all except the Setanta subscription is free so you don’t even need a tv if you’re prepared to accept a slight drop in quality. No tv no licence fee…….except it doesn’t work that way.

You see you don’t need to have a tv to have the capability of receiving tv signals and that is what you pay your licence fee for.

this is from the Licence fee website:

You need a TV Licence to use any television receiving equipment such as a TV set, digital box, DVD or video recorder, PC, laptop or mobile phone to watch or record television programmes as they’re being shown on TV.

If you use a digital box with a hi-fi system or another device that can only be used to produce sounds and can’t display TV programmes, and you don’t install or use any other TV receiving equipment, you don’t need a TV Licence.

In other words even if you don’t have tv equipment, if you have a pc you still need to pay the licence fee. Incidentally you will note that it says nothing about internet access or tv cards, merely that if you have a pc or laptop you have to pay.

Without an internet connection or tv card your pc cannot receive any form of tv. Clearly the tv licence fee has nothing to do with whether or not you actually receive tv signals, simply that you have a piece of equipment that has the potential to receive them.

If you purchase almost any other product from an EU country outside your own you pay the vat of the source country and are not liable for any further tax in your own country. Since all EU countries have a licence fee, why then can you not receive tv programmes from other states under the conditions of your own tv licence fee in the same way as vat?