can tv license detect you are viewing TV thru internet?

[mystvearn]

Hi,

My friend got a tv license letter, but she is watching tv online. I thought you were anonymous online. I know they can detect thru cable, satelite, aerial, but I have never heard detecting thru internet. Is it possible?

Thanks

[Swiftie]

The letter she received was it addressed to her personally or just the OCCUPIER?

[DJSimo]

Hi,

My friend got a tv license letter, but she is watching tv online. I thought you were anonymous online. I know they can detect thru cable, satelite, aerial, but I have never heard detecting thru internet. Is it possible?

Thanks

they cant detect at all they just work off a database, even if they have got this mythical equipment that detects you it cant be used against you.

Quote from another site

"it is irrelevant whether the detection technology the BBC/TVL claims to have actually works. Evidence cannot be heard in a court of law unless it is available to both the prosecution and the defense, and since TV Licensing and the BBC refuse to disclose the technology they use, gathered results cannot be admitted as evidence."

[on_the_jazz]

Is she watching tv through iplayer? Afaik that doesn't require a tv license.

[roo001]

they cant detect at all they just work off a database, even if they have got this mythical equipment that detects you it cant be used against you.

Quote from another site

"it is irrelevant whether the detection technology the BBC/TVL claims to have actually works. Evidence cannot be heard in a court of law unless it is available to both the prosecution and the defense, and since TV Licensing and the BBC refuse to disclose the technology they use, gathered results cannot be admitted as evidence."

Quite rightly i agree with DJSimo but it is confirmed that they use a top end customised frequency scanner, as mentioned they can't use the evidence from frequency scanner in court

As for internet detection it a load of b*****s, you friwnd may have in advertantly entered details on a third party site which had a sharing agreement with TV Lic. Or any similar social engineering tactic was most definately used, be carefull of where you register and most importantly have emails and other registration info readily created and only used for the one purpose of registring, and make sure none of ur details are actually true, if and when satisfied and only then provide ur correct details, in some cases u have to in order to pay but i would excersise a little patience with causion these days

Your friend gave the game away inadvertantly over the net

[tshirtman]

I used to work for the royal mail, this is where TV detector vans operate from, i used to drive them for overtime work
and i can tell you, all that is in the back of the vans are two benches where the inspectors sit, they have a list of addresses that dont possess a licence, as a TV is a receiver not a transmitter no TV detector vans could tell if you had a TV, never mind what channel you're watching.
one other thing, you are not obliged to let any TV licence inspector in to your home, they would need a court order to come in without your permission

[chroma]

Just an FYI your never anonymous on the internet, never have been and never will be.

The problem comes down to proof.
The only way to prove your someone is through gaining court orders to track your ip from your isp.

There are otherways to pinpoint exactly who you are online (some not even reuiring an IP but they wouldnt stand up in court.

[forntida]

Is she watching tv through iplayer? Afaik that doesn't require a tv license.

If you watch or record tv programs on any device while the program is being transmitted on TV then you require a licence.

Device = Computer, DVR, dvd/video recorder etc.

[waqasahmed]

all these vans are just there to scare people. People once upon a time thought you could be detected by VM with Eurovoxes etc... and VM vans came around with some sort of radar, picked them up and then sent a code out to stop them :D Until you paid someone ?20 to "re chip" them :D

[ruudvandan]

Yeah thhey just work off databases with no detection equipment at all. I had the TV License people turn up when I was decorating my new house before I moved in. If they had the "scanning equipment" they claim to then they would have found that I had no TV there. I took the piss out of him - the conversation went something like this:

-I don't need a TV License, I'm exempt.
-No you're not, nobody's exempt
-I am
-OK then why are you exempt, do you have a telly?
-Yes (my TV was at my house where I was living and my Dad had a license there)
-Then you need a license
-No I don't
-If you have a television then you need a license - end of story
-But I don't watch BBC
-That's besides the point (gettin a little agitated now)
- No it isn't. I am well aware of the law and I am exempt

He kept coming back at me and I kept on telling him I was exempt (really pissin him off) and through his questioning he eventually found out that my TV was at my Dads

-So has your Dad got a license then?
-Yes
-Well why the hell didn't you tell me then
-I did, as soon as you asked
-Why didn't you tell me before then?
-Because if you'd have done you job properly and used your detection equipment on my house then you would have found that there is no TV here - you've wasting my time and pissed me off with all these enforcement letters you've been sending me, so I wasted yours.

[dogsdinner]

I bet your friend doesn?t have a dodgy cable box, if she?s worried about a TV license.

Last I heard they had bought an airport type x-ray scanner that can look straight though walls and see if your television is on or off.

[Meat-Head]

i was told wen i was younger, so much younger than today
the tv detectors ARE real, but how it worked was off the 6MHZ osclatter in the tv set.

I MIGHt BE INCORRECT, but the word on the street is
a flatscreen lcd tv does not have this.

so if you use a cable/satalie system coupled to an projector
as long as the volume isn't blasting out! is the word on the street

[forntida]

Yeah thhey just work off databases with no detection equipment at all. I had the TV License people turn up when I was decorating my new house before I moved in. If they had the "scanning equipment" they claim to then they would have found that I had no TV there. I took the piss out of him - the conversation went something like this:

-I don't need a TV License, I'm exempt.
-No you're not, nobody's exempt
-I am
-OK then why are you exempt, do you have a telly?
-Yes (my TV was at my house where I was living and my Dad had a license there)
-Then you need a license
-No I don't
-If you have a television then you need a license - end of story
-But I don't watch BBC
-That's besides the point (gettin a little agitated now)
- No it isn't. I am well aware of the law and I am exempt

He kept coming back at me and I kept on telling him I was exempt (really pissin him off) and through his questioning he eventually found out that my TV was at my Dads

-So has your Dad got a license then?
-Yes
-Well why the hell didn't you tell me then
-I did, as soon as you asked
-Why didn't you tell me before then?
-Because if you'd have done you job properly and used your detection equipment on my house then you would have found that there is no TV here - you've wasting my time and pissed me off with all these enforcement letters you've been sending me, so I wasted yours.

I had a similar situation 35 years ago. I had just moved house and changed my TV licence from Black and White to a Colour one.
Three months later and after counless letters to renew my TV licence or I would be taken to court I phone up them up;

Me, 'I am phoning up to complain about getting pestered about my TV licence'.

Them,' what is your name and address etc'

Them, 'Yes we are correct. You have not renewed your Black and White TV licence. If you do not do it soon you could be prosecuted'

Me, ' Just as a matter of interest where did you get my address from?'

Them, ' We got it off your Coloured Televi.... OooH'.

Phone was cut off.:stupid:

[Walkinmyshadow]

I bet your friend doesn?t have a dodgy cable box, if she?s worried about a TV license.

Last I heard they had bought an airport type x-ray scanner that can look straight though walls and see if your television is on or off.


Hahahahaha...oh my god i think ive just pissed myself!!!:roflmao::roflmao::roflmao:

[opsmonkey]

if your friend watches TV streamed from a site such as Hotdubz or IraqiGoals then no.. If your friend buys a USB Freeview stick and doesn't plug in the laptop ac adapter then also no TV licence is needed.. Battery operated TV's need no licence, if your laptop is not plugged in to th mains then its running off its battery..

[waqasahmed]

lol. A bit of a loophole there :D couldnt you just say my laptop runs on batteries and I never use the mains?

[tinman]

Icannot beleive that being away from England that they still make you get a licence over here one network cbc keeps whining from the government but all the others have to exist from commercials but i guess if they do not keep interupting with them it is worth a couple of pounds

[ruudvandan]

if your friend watches TV streamed from a site such as Hotdubz or IraqiGoals then no.. If your friend buys a USB Freeview stick and doesn't plug in the laptop ac adapter then also no TV licence is needed.. Battery operated TV's need no licence, if your laptop is not plugged in to th mains then its running off its battery..

Not strictly true. For portaable devices not license is needed as long as it's powered by its own internal power source AND the place where it is normally kept has a TV License.

I suppose the loophole comes in having to prove that the laptop is normally kept at your address.

[Gadge]

I don't know how true this is but one of our university lecturers during a networking security seminar mentioned that on the older CRTs it was possible to view what was on the monitor from within a 50metre range

This was due to the higher levels of radiation given off by the monitors

Couldn't really tell if he was pulling our legs and I don't really fancy researching either to find if its true :P

I also wonder how TV licences work for Cars now? since when you purchase a licence its only for the home isn't it?

[forntida]

The licence allows installation and use of TV equipment:



at the licensed premises by anyone.
in a vehicle, boat or caravan by:



You and anyone who normally lives with You at the licensed place (so long as TV equipment is not being used in a non-touring caravan and at the licensed place at the same time).
anyone, who normally works at the licensed place (so long as the vehicle, boat or caravan is being used for a business purpose).

Use of TV equipment powered by internal batteries anywhere:

by You and anyone who normally lives with You at the licensed place.


Remember it is illegal to have a tv, sat nav, video etc in a position where the driver of a moving vehicle can see the screen.

[bonus2010]

if your friend watches TV streamed from a site such as Hotdubz or IraqiGoals then no.. If your friend buys a USB Freeview stick and doesn't plug in the laptop ac adapter then also no TV licence is needed.. Battery operated TV's need no licence, if your laptop is not plugged in to th mains then its running off its battery..


Yeah, know it's an old post now.
But, I've never bought a TV Licence.
(Okay, I tell a lie, once chipped in when sharing a flat with some work collegues
about twenty years ago)

Anyway, I get these letters every month from TV Licensing.
(don't bother reading them any more- they go straight into the shredder)
but remember reading one a good few months back just for a laugh,
Where it said, if you have a mobile phone - you require a licence, or to that effect..

Ma phone won't pick up any TV signals, but I do know there's phones that
do - they're battery operated - is TV Licensing just talking a load o' siht again?

BTW, I've got the full Virgin package, and if any inspectors appear at
my door having a degree in clip board management, they will polietly told
to fcuk off! And... believe me, they will, because even the dogs have to go about
in pairs where I live. Hey, heard there's no TV inspectors in Northern Ireland, and
nobody bothers paying for TV licence either, maybe for the same reasons.....

[janobi]

@fortinda your info on the pc is wrong. There was an article yesterday that the goverment are to try and get money for watching the iplayer, you do not require a license to watch tv online.

tvlicensing.biz

That website explains it way better. There was also a legal precedent set where someone modified their tv to not pick up BBC, they had a signed declaration from the company that modified the tv and went to court. Judge ruled that the BBC/tv licensing agency did not have a case and the plaintiff won.

You actually only need a license if your watching/recording live tv. As iplayer is not live or online tv is not live (slight delay) then you do not need a license.

[gmb45]

incase u aint seen it---> http://www.digital-kaos.co.uk/forums/f86/internet-licence-fee-149015/#post696531

[Sajuk101]

there many ways like databases. most stores by law send ur address to them when u purchase anything tv related

[badmonkey]

Officially, you need a license ? depending on what you watch. The law states that anyone watching or recording TV programmes as they are broadcast must have a licence. It really doesn't matter if you use a TV, a computer or a mobile phone ? if it's live, you have to pay. Catch-up services such as the BBC iPlayer or 4oD fall under different rules and don't require a licence. But how does TV Licensing, which collects and enforces licence fees on behalf of the BBC, know when a PC is receiving a live broadcast? Have the mysterious detector vans been fitted with some new kit? TV Licensing is very secretive about its detection methods, fearing that disclosing too much could help potential evaders. In a Freedom of Information request last year the BBC refused to reveal the technical equipment used by its vans, stating it "relies on the public perception that the vans could be used at any time to catch evaders". This lack of information has only encouraged speculation. A common theory is the vans can pick up a signal transmitted by components from within the TV. To receive a broadcast, the TV must be tuned to the correct frequency, which is generated by a local oscillator. TV Licensing could potentially use this signal to find licence-dodgers. Whatever the method, it can't be used to detect unlicensed computer use, as TV broadcast over the internet doesn't generate a TV signal. TV Licensing admits it has no separate strategies for catching those who watch online, and while it has caught people watching TV illegally on something other than TV sets, it won't provide records of the equipment used. Is there a danger that people will ditch the set and go online in order to avoid paying? TV Licensing doesn't think so. A spokesperson said: "It is clear more people are beginning to watch TV online, in addition to watching on their TV sets. But while we do constantly review our enforcement methods to keep pace with technological change, the reality is that more than 97% of UK households have TV sets which need to be covered by a licence, and evasion remains low, at 5.2%." The licence fee is safe for now then, but this could change. According to the BBC Trust, which published a review of TV licence collection this March, 40% of students in halls of residence use a laptop as their main way of watching TV. While this may just be due to the nature of student living, it could indicate the beginnings of a change in the nation's viewing habits ? and the need for a new form of licence-fee enforcement.