Applying for a search warrant... what do they need?

[Pat "5mph"]

Because they will only have put you on a longer refresh before starting again. The whole system is based on an assumption that everyone has a TV.

Well, if they find me at home, which is quite difficult as I work shifts, I will let them inspect again.
Surely, nowadays, a tv is not necessary?
You can practically watch everything you want on line.

 

[mybike]

Sue them for causing you distress by harassment. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/...viewers-harassed-by-licence-fee-officers.html

 

[glasgowcyclist]

I thought it was a criminal matter or has it been changed ? If it is civil then I believe you have no obligation to let them in as you cant force entry on a civil matter !?

I was talking rot there, it is criminal. Don't know why I wrote otherwise.

GC

 

[Tin Pot]

If they do turn up, have fun with them - don't let on immediately that you don't have a TV because first of all, they won't believe you, secondly if they did you would t be able to wind them up and waste their time...just like they do to thousands of fellow citizens.

Either one step up or one step below car parking nazis.

Sue them for causing you distress by harassment. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/...viewers-harassed-by-licence-fee-officers.html

Took the post right out of my fingers.

 

[classic33]

I'd second giving www.bbctvlicence.com a read. Make a cuppa and see just how long it's been going on with no visit, no summons, nothing but more letters. What's interesting is the changes that are noted with each new letter and how the 'approach' has subtly changed over the years.

http://thechiefexecutive.blogspot.co.uk/2008/07/bbc-tv-licence-its-all-in-data-base.html
Is the person "signing them" real?

 

[EnPassant]

IMO They use the bully tactics because they have no other option. Technology is massively in advance of anything they can detect*. They use a database of addresses, and if it doesn't have a licence they fire at will.

*Not that I ever believed that anyway, I've never seen a detector van, far less had its occupants knock on my door or that of anyone I know. Maybe somebody here knows different, but I've never seen it, or even heard of it in reality.

 

[classic33]

IMO They use the bully tactics because they have no other option. Technology is massively in advance of anything they can detect*. They use a database of addresses, and if it doesn't have a licence they fire at will.

*Not that I ever believed that anyway, I've never seen a detector van, far less had its occupants knock on my door or that of anyone I know. Maybe somebody here knows different, but I've never seen it, or even heard of it in reality.

What signal is your TV sending out for them to detect? Your WiFi is another matter.

 

[EnPassant]

What signal is your TV sending out for them to detect? Your WiFi is another matter.

To be honest? Exactly.

TLDR: I will stand corrected if my memory or interpretation is wrong, but they used to say "We can even detect which channel you are tuned to from the output of your television" Which I don't know the specifics of but is possibly true, IF you are tuned to an analogue transmitter and some radio frequency from your equipment is output in a range that equates to the input it receives from the local uhf transmitter (go back far enough and it's vhf transmitter).
Just how this is supposed to work when you are receiving your signal from a satellite dish, twisted copper pair or fibre connection I don't know. Maybe someone does.
Simply owning a "monitor" of some sort, since every smart phone is now capable of displaying a moving image is not a way of saying "you have a tv" for the purposes of licensing as far as I can see?

 

[slowmotion]

The TV goons started sending me their letters at work twenty years ago. I resented their tone and ignored them, especially since they expected me to buy a stamp to reply to their bossiness. For the last fourteen years, I've picked them up from the mailbox and tossed them in the bin un-opened. God knows what they write. For all I know they are enclosing fivers to bribe me.

Anyway, I'm still a free man, and I enjoy hoisting two fingers in their direction.

 

[MontyVeda]

What do you mean? They inspected, the letters have stopped since.

Sorry Pat... i'm just being flippant. Having had the 'joy' of no more letters, it felt all the more annoying when they began again within 12 months. Maybe you don't live in a 'high risk' postcode like i apparently do. (lots of student houses around here, residents change every term).

 

[classic33]

To be honest? Exactly.

TLDR: I will stand corrected if my memory or interpretation is wrong, but they used to say "We can even detect which channel you are tuned to from the output of your television" Which I don't know the specifics of but is possibly true, IF you are tuned to an analogue transmitter and some radio frequency from your equipment is output in a range that equates to the input it receives from the local uhf transmitter (go back far enough and it's vhf transmitter).
Just how this is supposed to work when you are receiving your signal from a satellite dish, twisted copper pair or fibre connection I don't know. Maybe someone does.
Simply owning a "monitor" of some sort, since every smart phone is now capable of displaying a moving image is not a way of saying "you have a tv" for the purposes of licensing as far as I can see?

How do they know if the TV is licensed or not though?

I've only ever seen the van once. They really picked a good time to do the area. Every house without electric at the time, due to a power failure.

I was told never "invite them across the threshhold" to the property, by a court bailiff. Their free to return again.

 

[swee'pea99]

If it's installed i.e. connected to an aerial and power and is capable of receiving live broadcasts then you need a licence for it. It doesn't need to be switched on.

GC

We had a telly at work, a little portable that had its own aerial, but we told them we only ever used it to play work-related videos (which was true as it happens) and they said that on that case we didn't need a license, and that was the last we ever heard. Things may have changed (this was back in the '90s).

 

[EnPassant]

Sorry Pat... i'm just being flippant. Having had the 'joy' of no more letters, it felt all the more annoying when they began again within 12 months. Maybe you don't live in a 'high risk' postcode like i apparently do. (lots of student houses around here, residents change every term).

To go back to your original query. In my view you are receiving this attention because A: You live at an address that doesn't have a current licence and possibly B: this address is (from their point of view) a high risk area (your observation), in my view it's all about A.

At the risk of repetition it's bully tactics since that's the only weapon they have with todays technology.

 

[classic33]

Does it still cover the use of radios?

 

[EnPassant]

How do they know if the TV is licensed or not though?

I've only ever seen the van once. They really picked a good time to do the area. Every house without electric at the time, due to a power failure.

I was told never "invite them across the threshhold" to the property, by a court bailiff. Their free to return again.

That's once more than I ever have. And ahhahaaha.

AFAIK they have no right of entry and as I posted earlier, what exactly would they be looking for if they did? If it turns out that "A tv, and a means of receiving live broadcast tv" is sufficient then it's more than I knew. I thought they had to A: prove you were actually watching live broadcast or B: hmm there is no B .