This was my initial response too.
For the benefit of non-UK readers, Trading Standards Officers are funded, employed and under the control of Local Authorites - *NOT* the central UK government (or indeed the devolved bodies in Edinburgh and Cardiff). Nor are they, as a couple of people have assumed, anything to do with the police. The headline is inaccurate.
When we have a *representative* democratic system here in the UK, I'll agree with you. This Government was elected on a 22% share of the electorate. [source]
Re:Would this ever happen without the licence fee?
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BBC Launches APIs
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Fair points. But... the BBC would hardly be "just another commercial TV station" if they were forced to fund themselves through advertising.
They would _clean_up_ in the advertising market. What price do you think they could charge for a one-minute ad during Eastenders? Or the Ten O'Clock News? Or the English FA Cup Final? The other commercial channels would be squeezed to death.
Not exactly. The BBC do not set or collect the TV License. The UK government, specifically the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, sets the level of the license fee. There is a seperate NGO called TV Licensing which is empowered to collect the fee, which is then passed (minus 'costs', IIRC) to the BBC. This is why the BBC collectively craps itself every time its' Charter is up for review, as the government has them over a barrel in terms of setting Corporations' budget.
Slashdot Mirror
This was my initial response too. For the benefit of non-UK readers, Trading Standards Officers are funded, employed and under the control of Local Authorites - *NOT* the central UK government (or indeed the devolved bodies in Edinburgh and Cardiff). Nor are they, as a couple of people have assumed, anything to do with the police. The headline is inaccurate.
When we have a *representative* democratic system here in the UK, I'll agree with you. This Government was elected on a 22% share of the electorate. [source]
The Register has the headline Bush administration annexes Internet.
Fair points. But... the BBC would hardly be "just another commercial TV station" if they were forced to fund themselves through advertising. They would _clean_up_ in the advertising market. What price do you think they could charge for a one-minute ad during Eastenders? Or the Ten O'Clock News? Or the English FA Cup Final? The other commercial channels would be squeezed to death.
Not exactly. The BBC do not set or collect the TV License. The UK government, specifically the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, sets the level of the license fee. There is a seperate NGO called TV Licensing which is empowered to collect the fee, which is then passed (minus 'costs', IIRC) to the BBC. This is why the BBC collectively craps itself every time its' Charter is up for review, as the government has them over a barrel in terms of setting Corporations' budget.
British. The word you're looking for is British, not English.