I tried to forment a war against the BBC (Off-Topic)

by scarab , Tuesday, December 10, 2013, 09:10 (4007 days ago) @ stabbim

PS - for the non-brits - there is a British law that lets the BBC tax everybody who is capable of receiving or recording a broadcast television signal even if they don't actually watch the BBC. You just need to be theoretically capable of watching or recording their stuff. It's like the new York Times being able to tax all Americans who can read or have eyes that work.

Interesting. I watch a fair amount of UK TV and I do hear them mention the "license fee" occasionally. I always assumed everyone in the country paid it, but this sounds like they actually have to ask you whether you have a TV. Does anyone come around and check?

Yes. I don't think that you HAVE to let them in but if you do and they find a telly then you could face a fine between £1000 and £2000 plus fees.

For years I had a TV and video recorder but the TV wasn't tuned in. I just played Halo and watched pre-recorded videos. (It was my no-broadcast-tv phase - pretty much the time when Dr Who was off the air - but that's probably a coincidence).