to not have a television licence if we don't watch live television?

[Meggymoodle]

Some of our friends think we're unreasonable not to have a television licence. We don't have a television but we do watch things on BBC iplayer and itvplayer. We also listen to the radio.

In some ways, I can see the argument, we are not breaking the law - it states on the BBC licence pages that as long as you are not watching things through the internet as they are being shown on television, which we never do, you do not require a licence. However, are we being like Starbucks with the whole tax thing - not acting illegally but a bit morally suspect? (On a far lesser scale obviously!).

I'm not saying if everyone here thinks we ABU I will rush and get a licence but I'd be interested to see what the general consensus is.

Why should you pay for a licence for a service you don't use?

I used to get threatening letters from the TV Licencing Board every month. Fuck 'em.

Good split of opinions here. Interesting those of you abroad who say you miss the BBC. It was during three years overseas that we realised we actually could live without it.

The decision not to have a television when we got back was based partially on how crap it all seemed and partially on DH's self-professed lack of discipline. He would waste hours if we had TV on tap.

I agree, I would like to pay towards the radio as I use it to keep up to date with current affairs but could read the BBC website - again without a licence - is that the same thing? I would happily pay a partial licence for iplayer and radio but don't have that option. Should I write to the BBC offering my money??

It's not just missing the BBC abroad. The fact is that the other channels in the UK can't be quite as liberal with their adverts because they know you can just flick to the BBC. Here, if there is a good film on, the adverts get longer and longer and more and more frequent the closer to the end you get. It is infuriating. I have cancelled cable now because it winds me up so much.

I agree that the programming on the BBC isn't all fantastic. However, Radio Four, BBC News, BBC Food, podcasts, iPlayer etc. are world class and if I could pay the licence fee and get the BBC here, I would.

If you have a TV in the house then you need to pay, if not then do don't. Simples

"If you have a TV in the house then you need to pay, if not then do don't. Simples"

No. If you are able to (and do) receive live broadcasts, be it through a tv, computer or other device, you do. If you don't, then you don't.

You don't need a licence to own a tv, woo. You need the licence to watch live tv.

How many times does it have to be said before people get it?!

When my mum stopeed using her telly she was told by 'inspector man' to take the plug off and put it in a cupboard with a blanket over it so it was very obviously out of use.

stopped

"If you have a TV in the house then you need to pay, if not then do don't. Simples"

Nope.

If you watch live TV then you need to pay, if you don't then you don't. Simples.

I'm on of those who think you're being morally dubious. Sorry. I don't think it's the worst moral defect, and I know what you're doing is legal, but the upshot is that you get most of the BBC services (except live TV) for free, so others have to pay a little more

Beograde If you don't pay the TV license fee, is watching videos recorded off the TV morally dubious too? How about going round to a friend's house to watch their TV?

I'm the same as you, OP. I watch TV only on iPlayer, not live; I don't have a TV licence. It's perfectly legal.

Also, the TV licencing company are utter knobends. They send threatening letters to everyone without a TV licence, regardless of whether they are breaking the law. Fine for people who know their rights and use the letters for kindling, but could bully vulnerable people into spending a huge amount on a TV licence that they don't need. I wonder how much money they spend on those stupid letters?

Yup, that's pretty dodgy as well

It doesn't seem to be illegal to watch on i-player as long as it's not a live broadcast. But without licence payers there would be no TV to watch. So YABU. And mean.

That's like suggesting you pay road tax if you only use a bicycle!

IF the BBC had a problem with it I am sure they wouldn't make iplayer available!

I think the reason the BBC don't make people have a licence fee to watch i-player is not because "they don't have a problem with it", but because it's very difficult to actually monitor (with ipads, laptops, smart phones, etc).

The analogy with cycling and road tax is different for a number of reasons

"Yup, that's pretty dodgy as well"

Really? Watching TV round a friend's house would be dodgy too?

Should I be paying a subscription to Sky as my friend had a Sky only channel on when I was there the other day?

What about if someone without internet checks a website round someone else's house?

"Ghastly memories of programmes where the ad breaks get longer and longer and it appears to be impossible ever to reach the end."

And sometimes they go on for so long you forget you watching something and go off and do something else.

Murder, why did you ask the question if you only expected one answer?!?

Of course there's a grey line. If a friend asked me to record loads of BBC shows, or came around several times a week to watch shows on the BBC, because they didn't want to pay the licence fee, I'd find that pretty cheeky.

Mostly I wanted to point out that it is far from black and white. It wasn't just aimed at you, you just happened to be the latest poster.

I remember having cable when I was a kid and mum recording one programme every week for my nan who only had terrestrial. :)

For goodness sake it's television we are talking about here not life support systems.

The OP is perfectly within the law and is entitled to make the decision she has.

Anyone who doesn't like it should petition the BBC. They make the decisions and budget accordingly not that I'd say their decisions are particularly wise given the quality of tv currently on

Do those complaining expect people who fill their bins more often or heavily use other council taxes, to voluntarily pay additional council tax?

And that grey moral line works with the iplayer. If there's one show you watch now and again, fair enough - but if you're watching Eastenders, Have I got News for You, Casualty, Strictly, etc, etc regularly, just an hour later on the i-player, I think there's a case that you are unfairly using a service you're not paying for, even if it is legal.

I've always wondered if the BBC's iPlayer is a bit like texting. Apparently the phone companies did not expect texting to be particularly popular, possibly saw it as a slightly-more-useful version of paging. But once the service was available, it took off like a rocket. The BBC possibly expected iPlayer just to supplement home recording, for when you didn't remember to schedule it or only found out about it being on when it was too late. (All that 'for making the unmissable unmissable' trailers they broadcast.) But again, once available it is not used as forecast, but instead people are using it instead of live broadcast rather than a supplement to it.

And not needing a licence - I imagine there may have been technical difficulties in confirming that any device using iPlayer was owned by a household covered by a licence. If they ever decide that it was making big inroads to their revenue, I guess more effort would be put into overcoming those technical difficulties. Or possibly making it pay-per-view. After all, a good workman is worthy of his hire.

Overall, your doing nothing illegal OP (as long as you never watch a live broadcast). But neither are Starbucks, Amazon, Google etc, all they have done is arrange their operations in a way that minimises their tax burden. Just as you have done.