The BBC, Fake Detector Vans & Television Licensing Propaganda

escargot said:
As I mentioned, the offence is watching TV with no licence. The babysitter opened the door to the TV licence inspectors and they asked if the TV ws on, and she said it was, and they took her details and handed her the paperwork.

When I saw her turn up to court I ran over to alert the Young Offending Team because she was obviously under 18.
They were able to support her but the prosecution went ahead. Last I heard, her parents and the householders whose RV she ws watching were in discussions.
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The law is an ass, then.
 
escargot said:
As I mentioned, the offence is watching TV with no licence. The babysitter opened the door to the TV licence inspectors and they asked if the TV ws on, and she said it was, and they took her details and handed her the paperwork.

When I saw her turn up to court I ran over to alert the Young Offending Team because she was obviously under 18.
They were able to support her but the prosecution went ahead. Last I heard, her parents and the householders whose RV she ws watching were in discussions.
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I thought it was the property that was licensed, not the person, and that the licence was tied to the address? In which case, if she didn't even LIVE at the address, it would be the householder who ought to be prosecuted? I mean, was the TV owner pleading that they didn't need a licence because they never watched live TV? They were the ones without the licence, presumably the girl's parents had a TV licence for their own TV (or the one that she would be tied to by address). Myth is right, the law is a total ass.
 
escargot said:
Nope, it's whoever is caught watching the TV at the address with no licence. I don't make the rules. :chuckle:
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We have a couple of wall mounted tv’s at work that are mainly used for corporate propaganda but they can show streaming and live tv, usually Rugby or Football matches.
We have 60 to 70 peeps on our floor with a similar number on the floor below.

It would be interesting to see Mr BBC try to nick 140 builders, especially if we still had a few piles open.
 
escargot said:
Nope, it's whoever is caught watching the TV at the address with no licence. I don't make the rules. :chuckle:
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Thank you for posting about this issue. To be honest I always thought that the scenario of a babysitter being prosecuted for watching an unlicensed television was what we would call an 'urban myth', to use a 20th century expression. I humbly stand corrected. In this instance, Justice is really a banana.
 
Floyd said:
And what about the really rough estates/areas where even coppers don't go?
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I was sitting round someone's flat over 30 years ago, three of us were watching rugby then there was a knock on the door. It was the police and to cut a long story short, we found out his TV was stolen and even worse, from the local school. A D.C. and two uniformed officers. I didn't have anything to worry about so I was allowed to leave, the bloke who had the flat had nicked it apparently. I don't like rugby anyway.
 
Floyd said:
Exactly.
Must be thousands of people without a licence.
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Hopefully. The BBC's (mostly) crap now anyway so why should they be the overlords of receiving all payment?. They were invaluable during WW2, that's true but that was eighty years ago. There's tens of thousands of creative people who can and do easily these days make entertainment shows, documentaries etc etc giving their stuff away for free online. I watch that stuff almost exclusively.

I mean ... imagine your going to the shops today. You already know which shops you want to visit and what you want to buy but hang on!! .. have you remembered to pay your shopping licence? .. to the first company that brought out the concept of shops before visiting these new fangled shops that have opened since. Of course you haven't and you shouldn't. VAT is already in place.
 
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Article in the Guardian today.

A 72-year-old woman has received a legal warning for not having a TV licence. She doesn't watch TV but was watching iPlayer at a neighbour's house, which does have a TV licence. As the article points out, it's the address and not the person that has the licence.

The letter she has received has told her to get in touch, while not providing a phone number or email address. She did eventually leave a message on an automated system, but wants reassurance that that is the end of it.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2...ter-i-logged-on-to-iplayer-at-a-friends-house
 
cycleboy2 said:
Article in the Guardian today.

A 72-year-old woman has received a legal warning for not having a TV licence. She doesn't watch TV but was watching iPlayer at a neighbour's house, which does have a TV licence. As the article points out, it's the address and not the person that has the licence.

The letter she has received has told her to get in touch, while not providing a phone number or email address. She did eventually leave a message on an automated system, but wants reassurance that that is the end of it.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2...ter-i-logged-on-to-iplayer-at-a-friends-house
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It's a mistake, compounded by the fact that watching TV and requiring a licence are the default condition asumed by Licensing.

When you buy a new TV the seller is legally required to inform Licensing. When Techy picked one up for his mother he was pestered for months about it even though our home had a licence.
I was desperate for the Van to turn up. :chuckle:
 
Mr Bleak said:
Thank you for posting about this issue. To be honest I always thought that the scenario of a babysitter being prosecuted for watching an unlicensed television was what we would call an 'urban myth', to use a 20th century expression. I humbly stand corrected. In this instance, Justice is really a banana.
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I’ve only done a quick search and I cannot find any reports of a visitor or babysitter being prosecuted for watching TV without a license at an unlicensed address. If this had happened I would have expected reports as there are plenty of other reports about potentially vulnerable people being prosecuted.

I also cannot see someone under 18 being prosecuted unless they lived on their own.

TV Licensing says:
Would you prosecute a person at an address that uses TV receiving equipment without a valid TV Licence, if that person doesn’t live there?

TV Licensing’s activities are carried out in accordance with specific policies and guidelines, which set out the criteria for prosecuting evaders. One of these criteria is that a person who is charged with a TV licensing offence must be an adult who resides at the address, or is the landlord or person responsible for licensing a television receiver at the premises. For example, a genuine visitor or babysitter at the premises will not be prosecuted.
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From https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/about/foi-administering-the-licence-fee-AB20
 
Shoegazer said:
I’ve only done a quick search and I cannot find any reports of a visitor or babysitter being prosecuted for watching TV without a license at an unlicensed address. If this had happened I would have expected reports as there are plenty of other reports about potentially vulnerable people being prosecuted.

I also cannot see someone under 18 being prosecuted unless they lived on their own.

TV Licensing says:

From https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/about/foi-administering-the-licence-fee-AB20
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Yes exactly. So for as an example care homes are required to maintain licences not the residents unless there has been a change.
 
Shoegazer said:
I’ve only done a quick search and I cannot find any reports of a visitor or babysitter being prosecuted for watching TV without a license at an unlicensed address. If this had happened I would have expected reports as there are plenty of other reports about potentially vulnerable people being prosecuted.

I also cannot see someone under 18 being prosecuted unless they lived on their own.

TV Licensing says:

From https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/about/foi-administering-the-licence-fee-AB20
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I worked in the Magistrates' Courts and saw an under 18 year-old babysitter prosecuted for watching a TV at an address with no licence.
TV licence defaulters are prosecuted in droves on certain days. It is routine. Journalists don't bother to report it.
 
escargot said:
I worked in the Magistrates' Courts and saw an under 18 year-old babysitter prosecuted for watching a TV at an address with no licence.
TV licence defaulters are prosecuted in droves on certain days. It is routine. Journalists don't bother to report it.
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They were probably desperate for the fine money. Most people will just pay up if the fine is a reasonable amount, rather than keep battling it out. I'm the same with parking fines - I've had two that were absolutely not warranted; one where I actually HAD a ticket and the parking person just hadn't seen it, and one where the signs giving the parking restrictions were too high to be easily read. But by the time the fines came through, I'd thrown away the parking ticket and I couldn't be bothered to drive all the way back to the car park to take photographs of the high up signs to defend my case.
 
catseye said:
They were probably desperate for the fine money. Most people will just pay up if the fine is a reasonable amount, rather than keep battling it out. I'm the same with parking fines - I've had two that were absolutely not warranted; one where I actually HAD a ticket and the parking person just hadn't seen it, and one where the signs giving the parking restrictions were too high to be easily read. But by the time the fines came through, I'd thrown away the parking ticket and I couldn't be bothered to drive all the way back to the car park to take photographs of the high up signs to defend my case.
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The teenage babysitter I saw going to court had been in the house watching the kids in the daytime while the parent(s) popped out on errands.
If she hadn't opened the door to the licence inspectors - possibly thinking they were the kids' Mum back early, I dunno - she'd've been OK.
 
escargot said:
The teenage babysitter I saw going to court had been in the house watching the kids in the daytime while the parent(s) popped out on errands.
If she hadn't opened the door to the licence inspectors - possibly thinking they were the kids' Mum back early, I dunno - she'd've been OK.
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Yes.
Simply never open the door to anyone you don't know- that's my motto.
 
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