If you're a patron of the TV Licensing Blog, you probably realise already what a thoroughly unscrupulous, dishonest organisation TV Licensing is.
Make no mistake that TV Licensing, acting with the full knowledge and authority of its BBC puppetmasters, will do virtually anything to increase the number of TV licence sales and number of people prosecuted for TV licence evasion. If that means telling a few lies along the way, then so be it.
Over recent weeks, as reported by ChilliJonCarne on his YouTube channel (well worth a visit), there has been a spate of emails sent to the occupiers of No Licence Needed (NLN) properties falsely accusing them of using the BBC iPlayer without a valid TV licence. This email first went into circulation in late 2017, but it has come back into prominence.
The email is no doubt intended to make the recipients think that TV Licensing storm troopers will be crashing through their bedroom windows Libyan Embassy-style any day now. It is a kite-flying exercise, distributed en-masse to the occupants of NLN properties in the hope of hitting a few that actually have been using the iPlayer without a licence. The distribution of these emails is an entirely speculative process, very similar in principle to another dishonest TV Licensing tactic - the speculative prosecution.
The clear implication is that failure to buy a TV licence will result in a metaphorical kicking by the jackbooted thugs at TV Licensing. TV Licensing really couldn't care less if innocent recipients of this email - who are probably liars anyway in the warped mentality of the BBC's revenue generation bullies - feel coerced into buying a TV licence they don't legally need.
The text of the email reads as follows:
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Oops, something's not right.
Our records show you've been using BBC iPlayer. But your address is registered as No Licence Needed.
Buy a TV Licence (link)
Dear [Name],
You need to be covered by a TV Licence to watch BBC programmes on iPlayer, or to watch or record live TV on any channel, no matter what device you use.
However, you've previously told us that you don't need a TV Licence at [house number and post code].
Our records show that you have used BBC iPlayer on a number of occasions in recent weeks.
As your No Licence Needed status is now invalid, you will need to buy a TV Licence.
Buy a TV Licence (link)
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The bolded sentence towards the foot of the email is yet another TV Licensing lie. There is no automatic need for any recipient to buy a TV licence.
As if the undertones in this email aren't sinister enough, it actually has no legal basis whatsoever. There is no legal requirement to have a TV licence to listen to BBC Radio 1 or watch S4C on-demand via the BBC iPlayer. That being the case, the fact that someone may or may not have been using the BBC iPlayer is neither here nor there - it in no way proves unlicensed TV (or BBC on-demand) reception.
As TV licences apply to properties instead of named individuals, another possibility is that someone signs up for a BBC account with their correct (unlicensed) address, but actually uses the iPlayer at a property covered by a valid TV licence. Every day millions of people, who may not have a TV licence for their own property, tune into the BBC iPlayer from their place of work, which is covered by a valid TV licence.
Furthermore, there is no direct correlation between BBC accounts and TV licence records. A person could sign up for a BBC account giving any old email address and post code they liked, but that in no way confirms their TV licence status.
Another difficulty TV Licensing has is that it is perfectly legal for Person A, who has a valid TV licence, to sit in the property of person B, who does not have a TV licence, and use any unplugged device they like to receive TV (or BBC on-demand) programmes.
Given all of these perfectly legal permutations, we hope readers will be reassured that emails like this are sent by TV Licensing entirely for their scare value. They certainly should not assume that TV Licensing has any genuine evidence of evasion taking place, because in all likelihood it almost certainly doesn't.
We are aware of TV Licensing sending similar paper letters in the past warning the occupants of unlicensed properties that they have "detected TV use without a licence" and "buying a TV licence now is the only way to avoid a criminal record". Again, this is speculative bullshit on the part of TV Licensing, sent in the hope it will scare the recipient into buying a TV licence they probably have no legal need for.
Such underhand tactics really do reinforce TV Licensing's status as gutter organisation. Sadly, they come as no surprise at all. TV Licensing really is no better than these speculative telephone scammers looking to extort money from people by falsely accusing them of accessing illegal websites.
2 comments:
Such behaviour is worthy of being branded a RICO (Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organisation) Anyway, there's no way they could track down an IP address to a physical address without breaking data protection legislation. And impossible to then associate that IP address with a specific individual. As ever, the best thing to do with any communication from TV Licensing is to shred it.
If the letter is just an attempt to get a person to pay for a licence then email enquiries at tvlicensing telling them you are going to prosecute them for demanding money with menaces.
The fact they are sending the letters means that LLF people might end up paying for a licence that they don't need means they are trying to extort money from the person.
If the BBC had any sense they wouldn't be sending such letters as you can login to the BBC and listen to the radio or comment on the have your say site plus some other content without needing a licence. The person could even look at the content on offer from the iplayer but unless they watch the shows then they don't need a licence.
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