TV
LICENCE
ABOLISH
THE TV LICENCE
HOW TO MESS UP TV LICENSING !
By “Uncle Beeb”
Have you had enough of …. ?
…
having to pay for the BBC, whether you watch it or not
?
…
subsidising the BBC’s expansion in digital channels,
which you never watch ?
…
being forced to pay for the politically biased BBC ?
…
the TV Licence going up as fast as your Council Tax ?
…
being forced to fund an overmanned & inefficient
organisation that does not live in the real commercial world ?
…
receiving threatening & intimidating letters from
TV Licensing ?
…
the BBC deceiving you with its phone in competitions ?
…
the BBC deliberately setting out to show HM The Queen
in a bad light ?
…
the BBC pumping out mindless pap, for which you are
forced to pay ?
…
BBC employees receiving totally undeserved large bonuses and guaranteed final
salary pensions ?
If you just grumble about
it, then nothing will happen.
There are powerful vested
interests supporting the continuation of the TV Licence Fee (the “TV Tax”).
Write to you MP ? Write to the Minister of Media & Culture
? Don’t waste your time !
ONLY MASS CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE IS
GOING TO GET RID OF THE TV LICENCE.
Please do something !
In an ideal world, everyone
would refuse to pay their TV Licence, and become a TV License martyr.
If you want to do this, then
please carry on and do it !
If you are careful, you will
away with it. (See Part Two
below). And the fine is only £150, even
if you get caught, which you won’t.
However, for many reasons,
all quite understandable, most people are not ready to go “all the way”.
Don’t go away though,
because there is lots that you can do.
Please help to disrupt the
TV Licensing system as much as possible.
Please consider doing some,
or all, of the things that I suggest below.
Just doing one of these
things will help.
Below are some
suggestions to mess up the TV Licensing system.
Remember. One flea biting an elephant will not be
noticed by the elephant.
However, hundreds of
thousands of fleas nibbling away will bring the elephant down. So get nibbling now !
Do not respond to any
letters or phone calls from TV Licensing. If anyone phones, asking
for “Mr / Mrs Yourself”, then always ask, “Who’s calling
?”, before confirming your identity. If the reply is “TV
Licensing” or similar, put the phone down immediately – do not say anything at
all.
TV Licensing are known to
send letters by recorded delivery, requiring a signature. Always ask to see where a recorded delivery
has come from, before signing.
Cancel your direct debit. You do this
by contacting your bank, not TV Licensing.
Having a direct debit to pay your TV Licence makes life easy for them –
and we don’t want to do that, do we ?
If you do pay for a TV
Licence, do not pay by cheque or credit card.
Do not pay through the TVL website.
Dealing with TV Licensing
When the initial demand for
payment comes, ignore it. Ignore the
next threats / reminders for as long as you can. I know you can hold out for at least 2
months. Hold out for as long as you
possibly can. You can do it. Remember that the letters from TVL are
computer generated. They are intended to
make you afraid.
Don’t forget - Fear is all in the mind - Do not be afraid. Repeat after me – “I am not afraid”. “ I
am not afraid ”.
Do not attempt to engage
in debate with TV Licensing – eg “I pay for Sky” ; “I don’t
watch BBC anymore” ; “I only watch DVDs”.
Firstly, this does not work, and secondly, you may incriminate yourself.
Get your TV “free” for a
few months
If / when you do pay, only
pay in cash at the “PayPoint” shop, at the end of a
calendar month. Use only the blank forms
supplied, not one with your name & address already printed on it. On the form, put in the date that it actually
is, not when your last Licence ran out.
Put in your real address, but a different name. Each year, change your name on the form. Use your imagination – Silly name (P.
Occupier, R. Sole) ; BBC character (D Trotter, B
Brush) ; TV Licensing employee (V Smith, M Whitehouse) ; serial killer (H
Shipman, T Bundy).
Make sure that you get the
Licence stamped, and keep the till receipt for the cash payment as proof.
I have found that doing all
this means you get a couple of “free” months every year. I’ve done it for 3
years now.
Get
a black and white TV Licence
This
only costs £42.
If the
TV Licensing man calls …..
If someone from TV Licensing
calls at your house –
-
If you know it
is them, do not answer the door.
-
If you do answer
the door, and then find out who they are, close the door
immediately.
-
Neither confirm your name, nor say who lives at the house.
-
Do not say
anything. No banter / abuse / debate, no
matter how tempting this may be. You
have no legal obligation to say anything.
-
Do not let them
in.
-
Do not sign
anything.
-
Obvious, but
make sure they can’t see your TV through the window, or hear it through the letterbox !
Do not forget that the TV
Licence Officers are employees of a
company called Capita. Commonly known as “Crapita”.
They are not Police
Officers. They have no more power than a
door-to-door salesman. Do not be afraid
of them.
TV Licence Officers know if
you haven’t got TV Licence, since “The System” has told them. On its own, this is not illegal
! They are looking for evidence
that you have a TV. They need this
evidence. Don’t make life easy for them
- don’t give the evidence to them !
Prosecutions depend on
people owning up, or letting them in their house ! Don’t do it !
Beware - reported TV
Licensing “dirty tricks” include –
-
Pretending to be
“doing a survey”. Start off, “Have you
got a washing machine ?”, etc. Then, “Have you got a TV ?”.
-
Asking the
neighbours – “Who lives next door ?”.
If you move house, do not tell TV Licensing – leave them to find you.
If you
buy a TV or DVD player, or similar,
the shop may ask for your name & address. This is to be
sent to TV Licensing, so that they can check that you have a TV Licence. (Really this should not be allowed, due to
data protection laws). Always give a
false name & address. Try not to use
your loyalty / reward card, since this gives your name & address
automatically.
You may have to give a
“real” address, since the shop may ask for a postcode and house number, to put
into a database.
Apparently, TV Licensing are also trying to get names & addresses of people
buying mobile phones which are able to receive TV.
This may also apply to MPEG4
players, or computers capable of receiving TV (see below).
Having a Sky dish or ariel
visible from the front of your house is not sufficient evidence that you have a
TV. Neither Sky nor
Virgin sned their customer information to TV
Licensing.
Senior citizens
If you are over 75, you get
a free TV Licence. However, my
understanding is that TVL does not prosecute non-payers aged over 65. If you are over 65 (I’m not yet), then please
try this out and see what happens.
The dreaded TV Detector
Van is a myth created to make people
think that they will be “caught”. They
are really empty vans with “TV Detector Van” written on the side. If you see one, stop them, and ask to see inside !
No-one has ever been
prosecuted on the basis of “TV Detector Van” evidence anyway. If they were, the kit would have to be made
available to the court. This has never
happened. Prosecutions depend mainly on
people owning up.
Haven’t got a TV ? You will know that TV Licensing will still
bombard you with threats, even if you really haven’t got a TV. You are under no legal obligation to sign
their “declaration” that you haven’t got a TV.
You can just ignore them, as above.
See also Haven’t got a TV ?
Watching TV on mobile phone or internet
No-one has ever been
prosecuted of doing this. TV Licensing
has put out press releases saying that you need a licence to watch TV on mobile
phone or on internet. This is just
propaganda.
Students – Please read this as well.
The more people we can get
to do some or all of this, the better.
Happy Viewing
!
“Uncle Beeb”, Jan 2008
PART TWO
AVOIDING
THE TV LICENCE
Lots
of people (reportedly about 5% of the population) have a TV, but avoid paying
the TV Licence altogether.
You
can join them (and me !).
In
order to prosecute you, TV Licensing need evidence that you have a TV, but no
Licence.
They
know that you haven’t got a Licence, because their computer database has told
them.
The
evidence is always one of two things –
- Your admission that you have a TV.
- A TV Licensing Officer seeing your TV.
Getting
a search warrant is expensive and lots of hassle, and they need some initial
evidence to get one of these anyway.
TV
Detector Vans are a myth. No-one has
ever been prosecuted on the basis of “Detector Van” evidence.
So,
if you do the following, you will probably be OK (I have been so far) -
- Do not respond to any letters from TV Licensing.
- Do not respond to any phone calls from TV
Licensing.
- If someone from TV Licensing calls, do not say
anything.
- Do not let anyone from TV Licensing into your
house.
- Do not communicate with TV Licensing in any way.
- Make sure that no-one can see / hear your TV
from the doors / windows.
- If you buy a new TV / DVD player / etc, always
give a false name & address if asked.
- So - No Evidence … No Prosecution
! Happy viewing
!
The
most important message is this -
Most
people believe that TV Licensing has lots of powers, and is an organisation to
be feared.
This
is not true !
You
do not have to reply to their letters or phone calls.
If
someone from TVL calls at your house, you do not have to answer the door.
If
you do, you do not have say anything, you do not have to confirm your identity.
You
do not have to let them in your house.
TVL
can apply for a search warrant, but a magistrate would want to see some initial
evidence that you have a TV.
Even
with a search warrant, they still cannot forcibly enter your house.
TV
Detector Vans do not exist.
So,
do not be afraid of TV Licensing !
TVL
depend on confessions for their prosecutions.
Do not confess !
All
together now ! Sing
in a high voice !
“ I am not afraa-aaid ! I am not afraa-aaid ! “
I do not have a TV
Licence (not for 7 months at Jan 08). I
receive occasional phone calls from TV Licensing (an
0117 number). I have never been in when
they have called. I have received two visits
from TV Licensing (card through the door) – I wasn’t in. I receive regular letters, of varying
designs. I recycle them. Following the guidelines above, I have had no
problems.
PART THREE
TECHNOLOGY AND THE FUTURE
OF THE TV LICENCE
One of the great causes of
cultural change is new technology. An
attractive new technology can change rapidly the way in which people behave.
Got a mobile phone ? When was the
last time you used a public call box ?
Several new technologies are
affecting the way in which people watch TV.
In the relatively recent
past, things like ‘phones, TVs, video recorders, computers, cameras, personal
music systems, etc, were separate pieces of kit.
Now, things are usually
merged together, with several functions on the same piece of kit.
These changes are happening
very rapidly – will the BBC notice before it is too late ?
What will happen to peoples’
acceptance of the TV Licence, as a result of all these changes
?
Digital TV
Digital TV channels have
proliferated, in particular specialist channels. The TV audience has become much more
fragmented, and people watch “their” TV channel – music, sport, movies,
whatever. Fewer people watch the mainstream
BBC channels, which try to please everyone.
Hopefully, people are
thinking, “Why should I pay for the BBC when I pay for, and watch, Sky Movies,
or Sky Sport, or music channels ?”
Digital TV recorders
VHS cassette -type video recorders are disappearing from the shops. New recorders are really computers. They can
record much bigger chunks of programs.
You can program many future recordings, rather than having to do it one
program at a time.
Effectively, people can now
have “their” TV channel, made up of programmes chosen by them, not chosen by a
broadcaster.
Hopefully, people are
thinking, “Why should I pay for the BBC when I never watch any of their programmes ?”.
TV and films over the
internet
Broadband internet
connections and more powerful computers mean that large amounts of data can be
downloaded quickly.
You can watch live TV over
the internet, and download films.
TV Licensing are trying to
get companies with broadband internet connections, but no TV, to get a TV
Licence. Not having a TV Licence under
these circumstances has not yet been tested in court.
Hopefully, people are
thinking, “Why should I pay for the BBC when I watch non-BBC things on my
computer, that I pay for each time ?”.
Portable DVD players
You can buy portable kit that will play DVDs. Also, MPEG-4 players allow you to download
films via the internet, and then watch them.
Hopefully, people are
thinking, “Why should I pay for the BBC, when I watch films, which I have paid
for, on my portable player ?”
TV on your mobile phone
You can subscribe to TV
channels, and watch them on your mobile phone. Normal TVs are essentially fixed
in the house where they are used. Now,
you can watch TV on the move.
Hopefully, people are thinking,
“Why should I pay for the BBC when I pay for my mobile phone TV subscription ?”
The past
Families
sit together watching “family” programs on their single TV set, which can
receive only 4 channels.
Big
broadcasters decide what the family shall watch.
The
family don’t mind paying for their TV Licence.
The future
?
People watch most of their
TV alone, often away from home, often when travelling, on their “mobile phone
TV” or wireless laptop.
They pay a subscription to
get only the channels & programmes they want to watch.
People decide what they want
to watch themselves.
People cannot understand why
they are told to pay for a TV Licence.
LINKS
BBC
Resistance Comprehensive site. Discussion board.
Stop BBC Bias Campaigning against political bias on the BBC
Haven’t got a TV ?
Letters from TV Licensing plus more
info