TV Licensing

The rules on TV Licensing seem to keep changing so I thought I'd bring the topic up again. I'm going away to university in a few weeks time so what do I need to do? Do I require a TV license, how much do I have to pay, are there any discounts etc.?

I recall reading on here that if you have an unplugged laptop then you don't require a TV license. Given that almost all of the programmes I watch are available on the internet I thought of just taking the laptop and watching through there. Is this true?

Any help would be appreciated.

Technically, you can own a computer, and use it to watch content on the iPlayer, without a license fee. There's nothing preventing that.

With regards to TVs that receive live signals - black-and-white licenses are cheaper, but the TV license in itself isn't a massive sum of money spread out over 12 months, so it might be better value for money to buy a colour license. If you're going to uni and will be leaving your room in the gaps between semesters, you can claim back your TV license for those weeks/months if you can prove you weren't using a TV at that address. There's no difference between the charge for analogue and digital TV.

I really don't get why they keep the cheaper black and white licence option available - seems a rather outdated concession which is probably only their to be exploited nowadays.

there is no 'technically' about it: You can own, plug in, switch on, snuggle up to or do anything with a computer.

You can watch any nonlive video video on the laptop without any doubt or technicality's. In UK and EU law it is in dispute as to if a 'live' stream is ever 'live tv'. The current thinking is that it is a download file.

As a result a specific change in the law would need to pass through parliament to make internet TV in any form fall under TV licensing law. It is very unlikely that the BBC would ever be able to do this.

The only time a computer could ever fall foul of the BBC tax people is if you use a TV tuner card or usb device - then it is the reception device you need to pay for.

Another point, you CAN own a TV and DVD player and not need a licence, as long as the TV was not used for reception of TV programmes (the simplest way to do this is not tune it in)

It is entirely possible to not pay your TV license and watch TV on a TV whilst you are not university. I did it when I was at uni last year.
So did many others, it seems - everytime TV licensing decided to waste their time sending out a threatening mailshot to the entire hall, the bin next to the mailboxes in the foyer was filled with many a TV licensing letter.

Maybe I got lucky, but I can bet the reason why students do buy TV licenses are because the letters they send out that are aggressively toned and littered with long words and pseudo-legalese. They get cold feet because they think the TVL bogeymen will come and beat their door down and so buy one.

At the end of the day, it is up to you whether you are willing to "risk" it or not. The chances of you getting caught are pretty slim, and if the worst comes to the worst, there is no requirement for you to even open the door, let alone grant them entry.

There is a basic live streaming player for your PC called Zattoo which works via peer to peer and apparently it's legitimate.

You can get all BBC channels including ITV1, C4 and Five.

www.zattoo.com

They are never legitimate, whatever their argument.

Going on this topic. With it being called a 'TV' license, what are the rules associated with not having a TV/TV tuned in, but listening to BBC Radio channels?

I would struggle to see the point in that: it would surely be cheaper to acquire a radio ?

I think detuned TVs count, but then users could just get around it by detuning the TV every time the enforcement officers come around. A more failsafe method would be to remove the TV tuner - although if you're using a CRT TV, this is very dangerous as you'll be working close to the capacitors and the actual CRT. These things can kill , so it's best to either get a qualified professional to do it or just buy a non-CRT screen (such as an LCD, plasma, OLED etc screen).

My understanding is that you can use a reveiver which operates from its own internal batteries on your parent's license while at uni. So a laptop with a USB tuner would suffice.

Whether you would be able to plug the laptop in and claim that the computer is running off the battery, and the power supply is merely charging the battery rather than powering the lappy I'm not sure.

Suspect if it carried on working without the battery in then that would fall fowl? If the charger was a PSU and not just a charger in other words?

tv licencing is like big brother, brought a dvd player and because I'm not the named person on our tv licence (my mother is) i got a snotty letter saying they had no record of a licence at my address in my name so I should buy a tv licence.

of course it's too much like common sense to check the address and find that, oh lordy me' there is a licence at this address already

I don't drive but the DVLC is not harassing me to buy car tax based on the assumption that because I haven't got any I'm driving a car illegally

TV licencing cannot understand that some people just don't have a tv. when I moved in with my parents and canceled my tv licence for my flat I had to prove I'd destroyed my TV

(do I have to smash it up and send the bits in a box to TV licencing)