Bang on cue at the dawn of a major international sporting event, the BBC's revenue generation pariahs have threatened fans with the consequences of unlicensed viewing.
Euro 2024 kicked off yesterday with the inaugural match of the tournament between hosts Germany and group A rivals Scotland.
It was always going to be a tough game for the Scots, who were three goals and man down by the end of the first half.
Despite clawing back a goal, the match finished Germany 5-1 Scotland. Fingers crossed for more success in the remaining group matches, although it already looks as though the Scots will face a steep climb into the knockout stage of the tournament.
Anyway, I digress. Before the first kick of the tournament the gluttonous BBC, via the medium of TV Licensing, had started spouted its bile about £1,000 fines and criminal records for anyone daring to watch the football without a valid TV licence.
As is often the case, TV Licensing has distributed its message to the mass media, which subserviently publishes anything it is told.
The message is targeted at two groups in particular: students and those who might like to watch the football at work.
Legally speaking a TV licence is required for any property where equipment is used or installed to receive TV programmes at the time they are shown. This would include "live" broadcast football matches on any channel. A TV licence is also required to watch on-demand programmes via the BBC iPlayer, although not on-demand programmes on other platforms.
TV Licensing concedes that anyone watching on an unplugged device powered by its own internal battery (e.g. laptop, tablet or mobile phone) would be covered by virtue of the TV licence of their home address, if indeed it had one.
TV Licensing warns: "If you plug your device into the mains, you'll be covered if that property already has a TV Licence. Otherwise, you'll need to buy a separate TV Licence for that property."
It also warns anyone who might be tempted to tune into the football on their work desktop computer, that they might not be correctly licensed to do so.
It signs off with one of its regular threats: "You could be prosecuted if we find that you have been watching, recording or downloading programmes illegally.
"The maximum penalty is a £1,000 fine plus any legal costs and/or compensation you may be ordered to pay."
The TV Licensing Blog always encourages compliance with the legislation.
That said, we're duty bound to mention the following: Anyone who tunes into the football without a valid TV licence has more chance of being mauled to death by a unicorn than being prosecuted by TV Licensing.
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