News1 min ago
Tv Licence
Just tried to access a programme on BBC iplayer and got a pop up informing me that the law has changed and you now need a licence to view catch up.
1) How would they know if you were viewing?
2) If tv licencing were to pay a visit to your home, would they have a right to take your laptop to analyse if you had been viewing iplayer?
Thanks.
1) How would they know if you were viewing?
2) If tv licencing were to pay a visit to your home, would they have a right to take your laptop to analyse if you had been viewing iplayer?
Thanks.
Answers
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“I once stole a sandwich from Tesco when I was homeless and skint. Does that make me indecent?”
I think there’s a significant difference between the offences, nailit. Your offence was committed in response to a situation where you had an urgent and necessary requirement for food and had little choice but to act in the way you did. You were still guilty of an offence but the mitigation you had was considerable. A person who watches a TV whilst wilfully refusing to buy a licence has no such mitigation. Watching a TV is not a requirement, either urgent or otherwise. It is not a necessity. Other alternatives are available (such as not watching a television). The set has to be bought and it is well known that it is a requirement to hold a licence. It is a deliberate and premeditated act in defiance of the law. Whether or not you agree with the law does not alter that. We cannot pick and choose the laws we agree with. Furthermore it is the wilful refusal to pay for a service provided – a service which is not a vital necessity.
As I said, it depends how you define decency.
I think there’s a significant difference between the offences, nailit. Your offence was committed in response to a situation where you had an urgent and necessary requirement for food and had little choice but to act in the way you did. You were still guilty of an offence but the mitigation you had was considerable. A person who watches a TV whilst wilfully refusing to buy a licence has no such mitigation. Watching a TV is not a requirement, either urgent or otherwise. It is not a necessity. Other alternatives are available (such as not watching a television). The set has to be bought and it is well known that it is a requirement to hold a licence. It is a deliberate and premeditated act in defiance of the law. Whether or not you agree with the law does not alter that. We cannot pick and choose the laws we agree with. Furthermore it is the wilful refusal to pay for a service provided – a service which is not a vital necessity.
As I said, it depends how you define decency.
But we can pick and choose laws. We have free will (maybe). The gaols are full of folk who chose to and got caught, whilst outside is full of those who didn't get caught. Without the ability to there is no way one can justify claiming that "just following orders" doesn't remove responsibility for one's actions; and peaceful civil disobedience as protest against the elites in authority is removed from the common folk.
Gentlemen, gentlemen!
I hope not to be in that position, nailit, and hope you never do again as well. But let us not descend into a slanging match. It’s a question of opinion. Some people think decent people do not offend at all; others think there is no lack of decency about any offending. Some (most, probably) sit somewhere in between and prefer to take into account all the circumstances. Hopefully my explanation has illustrated that not all criminal offending need necessarily lack decency.
I hope not to be in that position, nailit, and hope you never do again as well. But let us not descend into a slanging match. It’s a question of opinion. Some people think decent people do not offend at all; others think there is no lack of decency about any offending. Some (most, probably) sit somewhere in between and prefer to take into account all the circumstances. Hopefully my explanation has illustrated that not all criminal offending need necessarily lack decency.
Going back to the OP, it's clear Nailit, that you're looking for ways to avoid paying the license fee. Can you see how that would annoy the hell out of people who do pay?
I think this attitude may have had an effect on people's perception of you as a person and their opinion of your lawful transgressions.
I think this attitude may have had an effect on people's perception of you as a person and their opinion of your lawful transgressions.
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