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It is perfectly legit to use iPlayer-style catch up services (i.e. on demand) without a license. Info here

Can't imagine this lasting very long, though

Only if you watch broadcast TV on it.

PS The license fee is not payable per TV, look it up:

http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/index.jsp

You must be covered by a valid TV Licence if you watch or record television programmes as they're being shown on TV. It makes no difference what equipment you use - whether itâ(TM)s a laptop, PC, mobile phone, digital box, DVD recorder or a TV set - you still need a licence.

TV License site

To return to the OP, it's neither - it's a TV licence.

http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/buyorrenew/index.jsp

Owning a TV and claiming it's not connected to an aerial/cable/satellite/etc is not sufficient.

This is completely incorrect. The licensing rules clearly state:

You must be covered by a valid TV Licence if you watch or record television programmes as they're being shown on TV. It makes no difference what equipment you use.

If you have a TV that isn't being used to watch TV as it is broadcast (e.g. just to play a games console), you are not required to have a licence.

Note that it is probably the case that having a TV connected to an aerial is strong (perhaps sufficient) evidence that it is being used to watch/record TV as it is being shown, but possession of a TV in that configuration is not an offence in itself. Similarly, possession of a TV not connected to an aerial/satellite does not require a licence.

I live in the UK. I do not own a TV. I do not watch TV, nor make use of the BBC iPlayer service.

The only BBC service I do make use of is their news website, and I'd gladly pay a small subscription for access to that.

As a result, I do not pay a TV license. Every month, I get a nasty letter through the door, telling me how evil I am and how they're going to press charges. Every few months, a guy turns up, bangs on my door for a few minutes, then puts a card through. Note, they typically do this while I am at work, but the nightshift worker downstairs is trying to sleep.

It's not my website, but there's a guy who has chronicled the attempts of TV Licensing(the group of thugs that the BBC hire to do their enforcement) to threaten him into paying up.

I will not pay a TV Tax to use my internet connection.

Your TV would have to be a monitor with no ability to tune in to a signal before you could argue exemption for TV licenses, at least in the UK, and Ireland sounds like it has a similar system. Owning a TV and claiming it's not connected to an aerial/cable/satellite/etc is not sufficient. It has been this way for decades.

This is incorrect: http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/information/index.jsp#link1 Presently in the UK, you do not need a TV license unless you "watch or record television programmes as they're being shown on TV". It doesn't matter what equipment you own - it matters what you do with it. It is admittedly, a completely absurd and almost unenforceable situation.

Watching TV on the internet does not need a license. It's on the website if you care enough to check.

If watching material on the Internet at the same time as it is broadcasted as TV, then you need a licence. See http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/information/index.jsp .

If you ignore the threats -- which eventually progress to 24pt font on red paper in a red envelope -- they eventually cycle and you're back to the initial polite-ish reminder (I ignored them all when I had no TV).

Indeed - this website is quite amusing :)

Also, you only need a licence "if you watch or record television programmes as they're being shown on TV". If you have a TV plugged in to a DVD player with no aerial attached, that's free.

Not that that will stop them sending you a threatening letter every month.

No, the BBC is funded by taxing everyone in the UK who has a equipment that they use to watches or records TV signals as they are shown.

The difference is that the TV License has a benefit (it lets you have a TV, it funds an organisation that provides the only watchable TV channel, and it funds some decent UK shows that aren't complete drivel* and which are an hour long if they are scheduled for an hour, rather than being 40 minutes long in an hour long slot) while the broadband tax will be levied on people to cover the illegal actions of others even if the person being taxed isn't doing anything illegal themselves.

.

* Channel 4 has "Big Brother", BBC produces things like QI. If I had to specifically decide which my license fee went to and which producers had to be locked away for eternity for crimes against TV and sanity, the Big Brother people would definitely have to be the ones locked in the Big Brother house along with the mindless contestants of each series they've made so far.

You must be covered by a valid TV Licence if you watch or record television programmes as they're being shown on TV. It makes no difference what equipment you use - whether it's a laptop, PC, mobile phone, digital box, DVD recorder or a TV set - you still need a licence.

You do not need a TV Licence to view video clips on the internet, as long as what you are viewing is not being shown on TV at the same time as you are viewing it.

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.

http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/information/index.jsp

You can have a computer screen without a television licence. From the TV Licensing website (emphasis mine):

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.

Currently, you only need a TV licence for a PC if it has a TV tuner in it, which enables you to receive a live broadcast.

"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. " - http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/information/index.jsp

When I lived in the UK, I was shocked to discover that everyone who owned a TV had to pay a £135.50/year "television tax" and that this only gave them something like 4 BBC channels and nothing else. If you had some form of cable or satellite, you still had to pay the fee even if you didn't use the BBC channels. I couldn't imagine how this system could be successful -- surely there was mass outrage and a blatant general disregarded for the rules! On the other hand, it made for excellent quality, commercial free programming. I would pay the same to get those channels here in Canada (not the wannabe BBC Canada version), and the natives seemed generally quite content to pay the fee.

Admittedly, we pay a lot of tax in Canada. As someone so astutely pointed out, we are vey good at it. I imagine that the perspective of many commenting from the US goes something like: "Another tax! What's next, a health care tax!? hahaha, those Canadians will never learn." Except taxes aren't always bad things. We tend to feel more comfortable paying taxes to support things like welfare programs and public healthcare even if we never use them because we realize that other people who live here do. Some people never have kids, does that mean they shouldn't have to pay tax to support education? We have already made that decision over and over, and that's why I live here and not in the Excited States of America.

Imagine that, instead of having to purchase your music from iTunes or steal it from IRC, you could go to a central repository where all the music was stored. Click the artist name, see all their albums. Click the album, see all the songs. Click the song and download. And, true to form, our astonishingly large bureaucracy would aggressively regulate this fee, which is what we pay them to do. Regulate things. I like the idea and I think it could work.

I may be wrong, but I don't think you need a license to listen to the radio.

http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/information/index.jsp#link1

"You need a TV Licence to use any television receiving equipment such as a TV set, set-top boxes, video or DVD recorders, computers or mobile phones to watch or record TV programmes as they are being shown on TV.

If you use a set-top 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."

I (as an owner of a piece of equipment capable of receiving the BBC), have to pay a license fee each year (whether I actually decide to watch it or not)

Not even everyone with a TV in the UK pays a TV tax.

The letter of the law used to be that if your household contains any device that is CAPABLE of receiving terrestrial analogue or digital broadcasts, you were obliged to have a license. That is, even if you have an unplugged VCR in your loft, you should be paying (realistically, I'm sure any enforcer would turn a blind eye to this).

There does seem to have been a change however -- http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/gethelp/faqs.jsp#link 1 says that you can notify the licensing authority in writing, if your TV is not used for watching TV...

Err not quite - the television license is a license to own and operate a TV receiver. Even if you can only receive Sky One you STILL NEED A LICENSE.

Technically you would still need a license if all you owned was a video recorder but had no screen to watch it on.

Under the Communications Act 2003, you need a television licence to receive or record television programmes. This applies if they are received by a satellite, cable or land based transmitter. If you are watching any satellite service, controlled from within or outside the UK, you must have a television licence.

You may have been informed, in the past, that a television licence was not required if you received television program services from outside the United Kingdom. This was changed in the Communications Act 2003, and if you are using your TV to receive or record television programmes broadcast by satellite from outside the UK, you are now legally required to have a TV licence.

http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/gethelp/faqs.jsp

Sony has announced that they will add digital TV and DVR capabilities to the PS3 in Europe

The law requires everyone, including students, to be covered by a licence if they use any device to receive television programmes as they're being shown on TV. This includes any TV set, DVD or video recorder, digital box, PC, laptop or mobile phone - TV Licensing

"... the fact that it's state-owned leads me to believe that its funded by taxpayers."

Not state-owned: it has a charter. And it's not funded from taxes. However, it is funded from a compulsory television licence fee ... which comes to much the same thing:

http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/index.jsp

In effect, it is the only private organization in the UK that gets to levy taxation. (Strictly speaking, it doesn't levy it, but it gets all the money that's levied.)

I live in England, and if I owned a telly, which I don't, I'd have to buy a licence even if I only watched non-BBC channels and pre-recorded DVDs, and that would cost me some $270 in your money every year.

Since I use Macs and Linux, if I were paying that, I'd be extremely pissed off at paying for the cosy little relationship that the BBC and Microsoft have.

Wrong again...

"You need a TV Licence to use any television receiving equipment such as a TV set, set-top boxes, video or DVD recorders, computers or mobile phones to watch or record TV programmes as they are being shown on TV.

If you use a set-top 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."

I think you will find any TV that 'can't display TV programmes' cannot display anything, whether connected to a DVD games player or whatnot - if it can't display, then it isn't a TV.

http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/information/index.jsp

After reading your post I did a bit of research into the UK's TV license - insane! It's not just that you guys have a tax but it's 136 pounds (>$270) per YEAR!? That's crazy! I don't see how people put up with that type of thing.

My favorite quote from the site regarding 'cheating' (Hello 1984!):

"...We have a fleet of detector vans, plus, our enforcement officers have access to hand-held detection devices capable of detecting a magnetic field when a TV is switched on. In fact, we catch an average of over 1,000 people watching TV without a licence every day."

From the site: http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/information/index.jsp

-NB

In some places.

Umm, try 50% off

Wow, that's quite impressive: you managed to be wrong on every single point.

• You do pay your licence fee to the BBC. "The BBC is paid for directly through each household TV licence.", "TV Licensing' is a trading name used by companies contracted by the BBC to administer the collection of television licence fees and enforcement of the television licensing system."
• The only part of the BBC funded by the government is the World Service, which is funded by the Foreign Office. Of course, you could say that the govt funds the BBC by making the Licence Fee mandatory, but that's not what your comments state.
• Web stream IS covered by the charter. From "The Charter:

  The Public Purposes of the BBC are

  [...]

  promoting its other purposes, helping to deliver to the public the benefit of emerging communications technologies and services and, in addition, taking a leading role in the switchover to digital television.

  [...]

  (1) The BBC's main activities should be the promotion of its Public Purposes through the provision of output which consists of information, education and entertainment, supplied by means of--

  1. television, radio and online services;
  2. similar or related services which make output generally available and which may be in forms or by means of technologies which either have not previously been used by the BBC or which have yet to be developed.

• The BBC is NOT free to deliver web streaming in any format they choose. From the BBC Trust's Public Value Assessment. (The BBC Trust is its independent governing body): "The PVA noted that we would expect the BBC to adopt a platform-agnostic approach."

That's not strictly true. If your hardware is never used to receive television signals, you can notify the TV Licensing people about this in writing and claim an exception. This is mentioned in their FAQ under the "General questions" category.

But it is not the owning but the using of that equipment for viewing or recording television broadcasts which require a license regardless of whether it is provable or not. You can own a television set and just use it to watch dvds or play games and not have to pay the fee. They may try to slap you with a fine, thinking it an excuse but it is no breach of the law on your part, only their paranoia. http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/gethelp/faqs.jsp?ques tion=1#link1

For us Yankees just how much is your TV liscense?

As it says on the TV Licensing website, it's £135.50 (US$266.34) a year for a colour licence or £45.50 (US$286.00) a year for a black-and-white licence.

I think you'll find that $45.50 is more like US$89.43.

For us Yankees just how much is your TV liscense?

As it says on the TV Licensing website, it's £135.50 (US$266.34) a year for a colour licence or £45.50 (US$286.00) a year for a black-and-white licence.

They do more then just sit there. (from http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/information/tvdetecto rvans.jsp)

How do the detector vans work?
We have a range of detection tools at our disposal in our vans. Some aspects of the equipment have been developed in such secrecy that engineers working on specific detection methods work in isolation - so not even they know how the other detection methods work. This gives us the best chance of catching licence evaders.

What if you can't get close enough to detect my TV in your van?
We can use a hand-held scanning device. These measure both the direction and strength of a signal, making it easy for us to locate TVs - even in the hardest to reach places.

From what I remember they can also use a technology (I cannot remember what it is called) to remotely view what is on your screen (I watched "Tomorrow's World" demo it once), on top of picking up the signal from your antenna. I also recall that when home computers first started to appear, they actually took some people to court to pay the fee for their computer monitor.

No, you don't have to pay it if you just plug a game console into it. You would need to show that you don't have the aerial plugged in. I have a friend who has a TV but only uses it for watching videos/DVDs. She doesn't have to pay the license either.

MOre info here.

It's more general than that. To quote their website, "You need a TV Licence to use any television receiving equipment such as a TV set, set-top boxes, video or DVD recorders, computers or mobile phones to watch or record TV programmes as they are being shown on TV." And if you look at the small print on the license you find that you don't only need a license to watch or record the TV, you need a license to be in posession of equipment /capable/ of watching or recording TV. So if any TV company anywhere puts any of their broadcast simultaneously online, then you need a licence for a computer and an internet connection. It's so very nearly compulsory that I doubt they have much difficulty getting getting magistrates to sign off a warrant. I know people who genuinely don't need a license who have had a licence inspector turn up at the door accompanied by a police officer with a warrant, so the evidence level needed doesn't seem to be set very high

I agree with others on this thread who think a taxation model is the best way to go for public service broadcasting (although when the government simultaneously forces the BBC to chase ratings there is perhaps an insufficiently clear idea of what constitutes public service), but I agree with you that the enforcement hassle of the license (and the RIAA-like tactics of some of the agencies subcontracted to do the enforcement, probably stemming from frustration that nothing else works) mean that it's a bad way to administer the tax.

Techincally no ... But it seems they put you on a "list" if you do it this way.

If you're watching BBC programmes in the UK then there is no such legal circumvention. The law is very comprehensive in that area and has covered computer viewing for years.

Does the license fee apply to monitors as well as TVs? You could just get a monitor (no tuner circuit, thus no capability of watching BBC) and use that to watch the DVDs.

A colour TV Licence costs £131.50 and a black and white licence costs £44.00.

You made a mistake... It's £131.50 or about $250. It's a right pain in the ass for students.

Fortunately there is one workaround if your TV is powered by internal batteries like mine.

You made a mistake... It's £131.50 or about $250. It's a right pain in the ass for students.

Fortunately there is one workaround if your TV is powered by internal batteries like mine.

Who has a TV and doesn't watch the BBC?
There are people like this. I doesn't matter whether or not you believe that it's possible that somewhere where you can't see it, people are watching Sky Movies and not watching BBC.

and you're saying 120/yr is too much for these people?
It could be. You're not allowing them to make the choice. Just because someone can afford something, doesn't mean that it's ok just to charge them because you can. They may not watch the BBC; they may not want to. Right now we get away with putting the BBC on everything and charging everyone; hardly fair on people who don't use the service.

people sharing a residence (read:students) have to pay per *residence* - If they live in halls, each 'room' is a residence - if they share a flat, it's one residence in total
Have a look at the offical documentation, unless you're using a "communal area" you'll need your own tv licence. Student flats and halls are covered, but communal areas do not always exist, and if you decide to have your own television, then you have to pay for your own licence. My understand is that quite a few people do pay for their own licences currently.

FUD
"OMG some1 d0en'7 4gr33 w1th m3333!!!! FUDD!!!!F F UFDD!!

Bollocks it is.

Go read the web site.

Do I need a licence?

        -
        If you use a TV or any other device to receive or record TV programmes (for example, a VCR, set-top box, DVD recorder or PC with a broadcast card) - you need a TV Licence. You are required by law to have one.

Interesting info regards NTL... esp as I have just found out that they now own telewest "my ISP" that 100Mb..looks fun Just a quick update regards "If you receive British TV to your PC now by way of a tuner card you need a license" Taken from the licencing faq http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/gethelp/faqs.jsp Under the Communications Act 2003, you need a television licence to receive or record television programmes. This applies if they are received by a satellite, cable or land based transmitter. If you are watching any satellite service, controlled from within or outside the UK, you must have a television licence. You may have been informed, in the past, that a television licence was not required if you received television program services from outside the United Kingdom. This was changed in the Communications Act 2003, and if you are using your TV to receive or record television programmes broadcast by satellite from outside the UK, you are now legally required to have a TV licence. So in Uk even if I never have any means of accessing uk tv e.g. using foreign satellites only I still have to pay the theiving bbc. You could even take this to mean that I should have a tv licence just for have internet and a pc as I can get foreign tv on-line... which I think is just sick... Ok if I want to watch BBC yes I should pay, but I don't ... hence I refuse to pay

Corrected URL
http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/information/index.jsp #link1

The concessionary licence is too much for me...

If you are blind, you can apply for a Blind Concessionary Licence at 50% of the full licence fee.

Isn't it just radio at this point?

Do I need a licence?

If you use a TV or any other device to receive or record TV programmes (for example, a VCR, set-top box, DVD recorder or PC with a broadcast card) - you need a TV Licence. You are required by law to have one.

• 
     
• NTL and BitTorrent debut UK's first 100Mbits broadband
• 
     
• Cable co. NTL signs BitTorrent file-sharing deal

You don't need a TV licence unless your television is set up to receive broadcast programmes.

In my house, we don't watch any broadcast programmes, but we do watch a lot of DVD's, so we have a set hooked up to our DVD player.

Recently we were getting increasingly threatening letters from the TV Licensing people, which I ignored after checking checking on http://tvlicensing.co.uk/information/index.jsp#lin k1 which states you need a licence "If you use a TV or any other device to receive or record TV programmes"

Roll on a couple of weeks and one of the TV inspectors came knocking on my door, had a quick look at my setup and agreed I don't need to pay a license as I had no aerial and no way of receiving broadcast programmes.

Result!