Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by dkdbejwi383 2300 days ago
In the same way, is paying for a Netflix account a licence then? No Netflix subscription, no Netflix for you? Or how about your rent, is that a licence, too? Because if you stop paying your rent, you can't live there any more.
1 comments
jinglebells 2300 days ago
No because Netflix account isn't written into law. It's a criminal act to watch TV without the license.

The definition of license is a permit to do something. It's a permit to watch TV, given to you by the government.

link
dkdbejwi383 2300 days ago
You can watch TV without a TV licence, just not the BBC. Just like how you can watch TV without a Netflix subscription, just not Netflix. It's equivalent to buying a ticket for a film as another example. It's not permitted to watch a film at the cinema without a ticket. It's a permit to watch the film.
link
iso1631 2300 days ago
You can't watch a ITV without a license, unless you watch it on whatever ITV's iplayer equivelent it. Same with Sky, you can subscribe to nowtv, but you can't watch sky in a legacy OTA way.
link
jinglebells 2299 days ago
I don't know why you're arguing this, it's all verifiable.

From https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one

The law says you need to be covered by a TV Licence to:

watch or record programmes as they’re being shown on TV, on any channel

watch or stream programmes live on an online TV service (such as ITV Hub, All 4, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Now TV, Sky Go, etc.)

download or watch any BBC programmes on iPlayer.

This applies to any device you use, including a TV, desktop computer, laptop, mobile phone, tablet, games console, digital box or DVD/VHS recorder.

link
uk_programmer 2300 days ago
> Just like how you can watch TV without a Netflix subscription, just not Netflix.

This is incorrect. You cannot watch or record broadcast TV of any sort without a TV license. That includes any channels on freeview (funded by ad-breaks) or any live TV from another service e.g. watch live TV through the internet (even on services that aren't the iPlayer).

From the TV licensing website:

> Live TV means any programme you watch or record as it’s being shown on TV or live on any online TV service. It’s not just live events like sport, news and music. It covers all programmes on any channel, including soaps, series, documentaries and even movies.

https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one

> It's equivalent to buying a ticket for a film as another example.

No it isn't. You have no choice in the matter. When I paid for the TV license I never watched the BBC's content but I still had to pay for the BBC's content.

e.g. If I were to pay for Sky TV I would still need to pay a TV license. I cannot opt out of paying the BBC. The only way to not pay the BBC is to use only online services or only use your TV for consoles / bluray / dvd.

link