You need a license to watch TV in some countries?

[fr]

I just heard on the radio about the BBC being partially funded by licenses. I looked it up on Wikipedia and it looks like several countries have this. How do they enforce it?

 

[feralkid]

Brain implant alerts central office when license expires.

 

[Nitemare]

Hidden cameras in the TV's silly.

 

[xanis]

Originally posted by: fr
I just heard on the radio about the BBC being partially funded by licenses. I looked it up on Wikipedia and it looks like several countries have this. How do they enforce it?

I would imagine it's fairly simple. When you order online or in a store you would probably have to present some sort of proof that you possess a TV license.

 

[IamBusby]

You don't need a TV license to buy a TV in the UK.

All they do is have a list of lived in addresses in the UK and compare that list with people who hold TV licenses. They then just visit the missing addresses addresses which are not on the TV license list.

They also use TV detector vans but I'm pretty sure they are just a scare tactic to get you to buy a TV license for fear of getting caught and fined.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

They also spam houses without licences telling them they need one for a TV.

 

[CZroe]

Originally posted by: IamBusby
You don't need a TV license to buy a TV in the UK.

All they do is have a list of lived in addresses in the UK and compare that list with people who hold TV licenses. They then just visit the missing addresses addresses which are not on the TV license list.

They also use TV detector vans but I'm pretty sure they are just a scare tactic to get you to buy a TV license for fear of getting caught and fined.

I remember being pretty impressed that they could actually reassemble an image of what your set was displaying based on the electronic emissions alone. I doubt it works so well these days now that so many have gone with LCOS/DLP/LCD/Plasma/etc.

 

[DonaldC]

Yes, when I lived in the West Indies many of the countries there required you to have a license. It was a carry-over from when they were UK territories.

 

[Train]

umm, dont they mean licenses from commercial TV stations?

 

[uli2000]

Originally posted by: IamBusby
You don't need a TV license to buy a TV in the UK.

All they do is have a list of lived in addresses in the UK and compare that list with people who hold TV licenses. They then just visit the missing addresses addresses which are not on the TV license list.

They also use TV detector vans but I'm pretty sure they are just a scare tactic to get you to buy a TV license for fear of getting caught and fined.

I dont know how the detector vans work, but they work. When I was living in the UK about 10 years ago, got a call from my landlord that they got a letter about my apartment from the BBC license enforcement division. It was just a warning, but it scared me enought to put the tv away.

 

[Aluvus]

Originally posted by: Train
umm, dont they mean licenses from commercial TV stations?

No. The BBC is funded in part by "TV license" fees paid to the government by individuals.

 

[0roo0roo]

its a license fee. but in reality its a "tax".
http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?t=31600
whether the detector vans work..is a mystery