New Package That Requires NO TV Licence

[Philip1974]

OK, if you say so.

It'll be tough, but I think I can survive without watching any YouTube content live. LOL

So I guess that means any Facebook live streams as well?

How do they police that? What if I'm watching a stream from another country? That wouldn't be covered by UK laws. That's why I thought it was only UK broadcasters that were covered by this.

[Annie+UK]

No one ever said the rules for TVL were sensible 😞

I watch a lot of content on YouTube from the USA so it is mainly streamed in the early hours, I watch the VODs after the stream ends which does not need a "TV Licence" (stupid name) 🙂

[LGUser]

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@Philip1974 wrote:

I think it's you who are uninformed, Rhonny. Amazon Prime, YouTube, Netflix and Disney+ don't have ANY live content. They are on-demand services..

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Amazon Prime Video does have live sports. So that does count as live TV. Pay up.

[nolte]

The uk tv license have this faq on whether you need a license

https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/faqs/FAQ104

Their answer on amazon prime is "it depends what you use it for" 

[Philip1974]

LGUser I didn't know that because I have no interest in sports so I don't watch any.

Aren't those sporting events extra though? They don't come as part of the package, they're Pay per View events?

[Annie+UK]

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@Philip1974 wrote:

LGUser I didn't know that because I have no interest in sports so I don't watch any.

Aren't those sporting events extra though? They don't come as part of the package, they're Pay per View events?

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Not sure what your point is there.

The TVL don't care how you're paying for your LIVE broadcast.

People pay extra for Sky but that doesn't negate the TV Licence requirement 😞

[TimmyBGood]

@Philip1974 

To reiterate the basic point made multiple times above: licencing an address legitimises licenceable activity.  If no licenceable activity takes place at the address (or away from the address by someone who normally resides there), then the address doesn't require a licence.  Possession of hardware (or subscription to a service) which could be used for licenceable activity* is irrelevant: at best its absence helps in defence against a charge that such activity has taken place, but its existence does not, by itself, prove anything or create an automatic need for a licence to be obtained.

*Which these days is nearly every computer, phone, tablet, games console, optical disk player (and probably washing machine)...

[Philip1974]

@Annie+UK My point is if you have to pay extra for it, there would be a record of you watching it, and therefore proof of you watching live TV. If it were just part of the normal package, there wouldn't be any way to know.

As I said, I don't watch sports so I don't know how they work, but that's how I assumed they worked.

[rscott]

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@Philip1974 wrote:

@Annie+UK My point is if you have to pay extra for it, there would be a record of you watching it, and therefore proof of you watching live TV. If it were just part of the normal package, there wouldn't be any way to know.

As I said, I don't watch sports so I don't know how they work, but that's how I assumed they worked.

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Amazon's Premier League coverage is part of the normal Prime subscription - no extra charge.

[TimmyBGood]

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@Philip1974 wrote:

@Annie+UK My point is if you have to pay extra for it, there would be a record of you watching it, and therefore proof of you watching live TV. If it were just part of the normal package, there wouldn't be any way to know.

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No: any service delivered over IP is capable of being logged down to the finest detail.  However, it's incredibly unlikely that any organisation (except the BBC) would willingly provide those logs to TVL outside of being required to do so by court order, and whether the BBC themselves could legitimately do this is yet to be established: there's significant risk of GDPR over-reach in transferring personal data from the public service to the commercial arm of the Corporation.

[rscott]

Let's envision this new licence fee exempt package.

It wouldn't have the following:-

• Access to view any broadcast channels
• Ability to record any channels
• iPlayer support (neither app nor catch-up section)
• Other channels section for manually tuning channels.

The only use of the tuners would be for software updates and card activation.

[TimmyBGood]

@rscott  @Philip1974 

Aside from the technical mechanics, there's the fundamental point that Sky as a broadcaster is regulated by Ofcom, and Ofcom exists to a large extent to maintain the position that Public Service Broadcasting is a 'good thing' for the nation to have.  For Sky to even consider creating a service which served to provide their subscribers with a means to evade the funding mechanism for PSB would seem likely to create a certain tension in that relationship...

[LGUser]

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@Philip1974 wrote:

LGUser I didn't know that because I have no interest in sports so I don't watch any.

Aren't those sporting events extra though? They don't come as part of the package, they're Pay per View events?

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The live sports are included with Prime Video.

[Philip1974]

@rscott you WOULD be able to view any broadcast channel (except the BBC), just not live.

Why would you need to record anything when everything is there for you to download on-demand?

No, you wouldn't be able to use iPlayer - that's kinda the whole point I was making if you look at my OP.

I've never heard of manually tuning channels in this day and age, Why would you want to do that?

[rscott]

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@Philip1974 wrote:

@rscott you WOULD be able to view any broadcast channel (except the BBC), just not live.

Why would you need to record anything when everything is there for you to download on-demand?

No, you wouldn't be able to use iPlayer - that's kinda the whole point I was making if you look at my OP.

I've never heard of manually tuning channels in this day and age, Why would you want to do that?

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A licence is required to watch or record any broadcast channel, whether BBC or not.