To think that people should have to pay to licence if they want to watch BBCi player.

[PiperIsOrangePumpkins]

people who,pay to licence are funding the programmes to be made. I don't think that people who don't watch live TV should be able to watch the same programme sometimes just hours after for free.

It cost to run the BBCi player so should people who want to watch BBCi programmes on iplayer have to buy a to licence.

We can access iPlayer for a cost of €5.99 a month. I think that's fair enough, similar price to Netflix. If you're using a VPN to avoid that it's, well, quite similar to theft, isn't it?

SolomanDaisy where are you getting the the 5.99 from?

It's what comes up on the iPlayer app I downloaded (we have the taster version, which only has three versions and encourages us to upgrade)

Only has the shows, I mean!

or perhaps they should scrap the licence fee and use adverts like all the other channels to raise cash

Ok it's a silly idea.

SolomanDaisy I didn't know of any official BBC pay way of getting iPlayer anywhere in the world, it was announced as coming:

www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/news/press_releases/2014/bbc_store.html

But I didn't think it had actually happened anywhere, there are apps though which just take money for themselves and pretend it's going to the BBC.

The monthly charge iplayer has existed in Europe for a few years, don't know about the rest of the world. It's a streaming service. The article you've linked to is about a service that will operate like iTunes, allowing you to download and keep the content.

As I understand it you do require a TV licence to watch catch up TV on any device.

If you click on iPlayer (catch up) you proceed to your programme.

If you click on iPlayer (LIVE TV) you are warned that you need a TV licence to continue.

Surely that is perfectly clear?

No, you don't, cold.

I use iplayer so as not to spend 145 or whatever quid on a license. I have no intention if paying that just for the bbc !!

Soloman,

"The monthly charge iplayer has existed in Europe for a few years, don't know about the rest of the world. It's a streaming service. The article you've linked to is about a service that will operate like iTunes, allowing you to download and keep the content."

this is what I get (outside of the UK, inside of Europe) when I try to access the iplayer without the use of a vpn.

        <span class="line-through">-</span><span class="line-through">-</span>--

Can I watch downloaded BBC iPlayer programmes outside the UK?

If you download a programme to your laptop or hard drive, or to your phone or tablet via the BBC iPlayer App, you can watch it anywhere in the world. But you can’t download any more programmes until you’re back in the UK.

The BBC uses Geo-IP technology to identify where you are, based on the location of your internet service provider (ISP). This is to ensure that only people in the UK can enjoy programmes on BBC iPlayer. Find out more about on-demand rights.

       <span class="line-through">-</span><span class="line-through">-</span>---

where can I access information on this pay-service for iplayer? Surely it should pop up automatically when I try to access it from a European IP addy?

YABU, simply because the television licence is not a BBC licence but a licence to receive television signal at the same time as it is being streamed. It was brought into play with the original Wireless and Telegraphy Act 1949. This was later amended in 2006 to remove the requirement to have a licence if you only receive radio signals. It's a bit like the difference between car tax and 'road' tax. The licence is for television signal receiving equipment, not for the product of one particular production company.

That the licence fee only goes to subsidise one particular production company is neither here nor there. If the BBC want to fund their productions via other means then they can (as they do with their non-UK services) but that would require a change in their funding model (and possibly an amendment to the public charter - been a long time since I bothered looking into this).

I don't have a licence and watch iPlayer instead but it does seem unfair to me

So what's stopping you paying the license fee?

OP YANBU. We should all be paying if we watch BBC programmes or listen to BBC Radio.

OP YANBU. We should all be paying if we watch BBC programmes or listen to BBC Radio.

and how exactly do we do that if we live outside of the UK?

I watch bbciplayer on occasion. I'm not in the UK and don't pay the UK tv licence, I use a ipchanger. However I pay my own countries tv licence and I also pay for SKy to give me tv, and I imagine they pay something to bbc to use their service, so as far as I'm concerned I'm cool.

SolomanDaisy Please link to the app or more details on the name - I'm pretty sure there is no BBC World service providing iPlayer outside the UK, in Europe or otherwise. I can't see how it would get trust approval.

I'm pretty sure it's just a scam app built around a proxy. It is a shame there's not a legal way of buying iPlayer overseas, but of course that would harm the ability of the BBC to sell shows overseas, so it's not that likely to happen distinct from the downloads market.

fredfred, I have spent the best part of an hour looking for an official paid way to use bbc i-player overseas. I can't find a single thing about it, on the BBC website or anywhere else. What I do find is various warnings of scam websites taking money off people telling them it's an official paid for manner to access the iplayer, but all it is is VPN access to the iplayer, which can be had for free. I think Soloman has fallen for a scam.

Everyone else.... don't go paying good money to access the BBC i-player overseas until Soloman comes back and clarifies this.

It's isn't actually 'illegal' as such not to have a tv licence - the police will not become involved if you don't have one. Also, unless you let the enforcement officers into your property they cannot fine you for not having one. I do have one but grudge it massively, especially when I have to pay for Sky as well as I can't get normal 'council' tv due to the location. If you are only watching online then I don't think you should have to pay - you are already paying for accessing the internet!

www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/bbcworldwide/worldwidestories/pressreleases/2011/07_july/bbc_iplayer_global.shtml

Umm, I actually have the app. Google brings up about a million hits about it's launch three years ago. It exists.

play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=bbc.iplayer.android&hl=nl

I can't find a way to link to the apple App Store, but it's on there too. There are news stories about it on BBC news and all the major British papers, as well as in the European press.

Soloman, thanks for getting back to us on this. Is this just an app for phones and ipads? Both are too small for me to watch anything more than a very quick glance at a news headline.

And how exactly does the content of this i-player app vary from the actual bbc i-player? As it says at the bottom of that page "The UK and global version of the BBC iPlayer are very different offerings." If you could help any I would really appreciate it.

It says on the front of the app that you can watch it on TV with an airplay device or an HDMI adaptor. We have Apple TV and use that to watch Netflix on the TV, I imagine iPlayer will work in exactly the same way. We've never set it up as our cable package includes all the BBC channels and that with Netflix is plenty.

I'm not sure about the difference with the UK iPlayer. What does UK iPlayer do? It looks like the global version is a massive archive of TV series, very similar to Netflix.