Ask your MP

[Gypsum_Fantastic]

Where I disagree with S_R is that he would pay the fee if it met some production output criteria he has defined. I wouldn't. I do pay for television through subscription channels - and would probably consider doing so for the BBC - but I do not pay for the BBC in its present form. The State has no right to impose a tax on whether I own a particular piece of electronic equipment.

If the BBC is so confident of the quality of its output - as it repeatedly boasts - then it should have no fears about finding enough voluntary subscribers. 'The right to own a TV' - what next? The right to own a lavatory? The lavatory licence fee? The things people will accept...

[NaRvIcK DeViL]

“Personal Computer Tax”

The TV licence fee will eventually be axed and replaced by a tax on all personal computers, according to a new report from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

In announcing the findings of the Whitehall's review of the BBC's Charter, Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell told ministers that the government was content with the traditional licence - but only in the short term.
"Although not perfect, we believe it remains the fairest way to fund the BBC so it will continue throughout the next Charter. In the coming months, we will have to decide on the right level for the fee after 2007 - but beyond that, we have to take account of the rapid advance in technology and media consumption," she said:-

"Over the next charter period we expect the BBC to play a substantial part in developing a digital Britain," the Culture Secretary told the Commons.

If alternative funding models get the go ahead, one idea being mooted by the government is a fee payable for each PC purchased.

The green paper on the Charter review, suggests that TV piracy will force the BBC into changing how the licence fee is collected.

"In future, if a large number of people are downloading audio-visual content from the internet, and watching it on their computers or mobile phones, rather than using traditional TV and radio services, it may be difficult to collect and enforce a licence fee based on television ownership."

The green paper continues: "In that world, different funding models may have to be considered. If the licence fee was to be retained, the means of collecting it will have to change - either a compulsory levy (entertainment tax) on all households or even on ownership of PCs as well as TVs."

Much of what the government is predicting, however, is already a reality. The UK now accounts for one-fifth of global piracy of television, while O2 is trialling video-over-mobile and several operators are already investing in HSDPA technology, which will facilitate TV-style broadcasts to mobiles.

The BBC, which has recently had to prune its web presence due to not getting the increase it wanted in the licence fee(£180.00), declined to comment on the possibility, saying the issue of funding is solely down to the government.

Nevertheless, the change could prove a lucrative one for the BBC. Currently, there are 24.5 million TV licences in force, according to the TV licensing authority. However, almost nine million PCs were sold in the course of 2004 in the UK, according to analyst house Gartner, and growth rates are rising fast, with a year-on-year increase of nearly 15 per cent.

Abolish the TV Licence [ www.tvlicensing.biz ]

[Scottish_Republican]

Originally Posted by NewBritain

Give the Nat-rumblings a rest, SR. Nobody's interested.

As opposed to Tory rumblings? Jings, looks like they're going to win Holyrood outright... The public's truly interested.

[Scottish_Republican]

Originally Posted by NovaBritannia

Er... STV?

Er nope. STV is an ITV region, not a tv channel in its own right, like Channel 4 or RTE.

Reporting Scotland is incredibly parochial rubbish. I back the idea of international news from a Scottish POV, instead of a London one, which we pay for. Wayne Rooney and Freddy Flintoff's overrated abilities, and falls from grace, are of no interest to me, and probably not to many others in this country. No more so than what a Republic of Ireland, German, French or Japanese sports star gets up to.

[Scottish_Republican]

Originally Posted by Five-Finger Man

How pathetic.

This person is stealing from every honest licence payer over some completely pointless demand.

Why on earth does this matter?

If the BBC decided to offer you a TV licence in some quaint old language somebody will have to pay for it. Either the price will go up or they'll take the money from their production budget. So we all get to either pay more or suffer even worse programming.

Thank you very much for saving the world.

Actually, if you did you research, you'll find out that a) the BBC is not responsible for collecting the licence fee, and b) it is available in a number of other quaint languages. They might even produce one in Latin for you.

Personally I think the Beeb is stealing from five million of us. 10% of the UK population and 1% of the programming made here? We're lucky if we get anything other than River City, Still Game, parochial news and the odd bit of sports coverage out of it.

TV Licencing has also long molested people who don't have televisions, such as my parents. I remember them getting their entire house searched from top to bottom Gestapo fashion several times over the years, just because they weren't great fans of the idiot box. Last folk who came to my place didn't even bother showing their IDs.

I was talking to some American students last year about their disgust of the TV licence. They thought the demand letters were incredibly rude (which they are!), and they were going to take them back to the USA as a souvenir. They didn't have a TV either, but had to put up with harassment, from the smug eejits. Personally I think the TV licence is a good idea, and I would pay it, were certain things to change.

p.s. And why do they have the cheek to run Charity Marathons when their director's paid so much?

[NovaBritannia]

Originally Posted by Five-Finger Man

The service is the right to own a tv.

If it owns one it is requesting the service.

If it's a right, then it's not for the state to licence.

Originally Posted by Scottish_Republican

Actually, if you did you research, you'll find out that a) the BBC is not responsible for collecting the licence fee

Actually, under the terms of the Broadcasting Act 1990, the BBC is the licensing authority and is responsible ultimately for its collection. It contracts this out to Capita under the functioning name of 'TV Licensing'. TV Licensing - About Us

Personally I think the Beeb is stealing from five million of us. 10% of the UK population and 1% of the programming made here? We're lucky if we get anything other than River City, Still Game, parochial news and the odd bit of sports coverage out of it.

What more do you want? As far as nations go, Britain is reasonably homogenous in these respects - so most programming is perfectly suited to being shown across regions.

TV Licencing has also long molested people who don't have televisions, such as my parents. I remember them getting their entire house searched from top to bottom Gestapo fashion several times over the years, just because they weren't great fans of the idiot box. Last folk who came to my place didn't even bother showing their IDs.

They/you shouldn't have let them into their/your house then.

I was talking to some American students last year about their disgust of the TV licence. They thought the demand letters were incredibly rude (which they are!), and they were going to take them back to the USA as a souvenir. They didn't have a TV either, but had to put up with harassment, from the smug eejits. Personally I think the TV licence is a good idea, and I would pay it, were certain things to change.

It's because they're smug that I find them so entertaining. TVL is probably more amusing than most the BBC's comedy content.

p.s. And why do they have the cheek to run Charity Marathons when their director's paid so much?

Ah, good old socialist rhetoric. If you want a decent director-general, CEO, MD or such, then you have to pay for them. The fact that so many private companies pay their high-up staff so much is testament to the profits that they can generate and the competition for good 'uns.

[NaRvIcK DeViL]

The tax in New Zealand was abolished because of a frail 78 year old pensioner managed to convince a hundred thousand fellow New Zealanders that they shouldn’t pay the tax.

That pensioner, Ned Haliburton said “we were a small band of dedicated idealists with a three year campaign of civil resistance, that peacefully brought about the scrapping of what we considered to be an immoral and unfair tax.

“This was a significant victory for a group of people who didn’t say what can one person do?”

Ned Haliburton said “the battle is not yet over, following the Anti-TV License Campaign groups decision to file proceedings against New Zealand On Air ( NZ ON Air) in the High Court in Wellington asking the Court to “determine that the tv licence fee is a tax , and, “further seeks a ruling on whether NZ On Air is exercising its statutory powers correctly in relation to the recovery of the broadcasting fee”.

The tv licence in New Zealand was abolished 7 years ago and not 1 iota of this information has ever been broadcast by our media .This story also goes someway to explain why they started giving people over 75 years old free tv licences.