TV detector vans once prowled the streets of England • Hacker News Board

Re: TV detector vans once prowled the streets of England

#21

Post by mhh__ » Mon, Jan 18, 2021, 9:43 PM UTC

myrandomcomment wrote: post #4

I have said this before and I will say it again...Dear BBC, please allow the rest of the world to pay for a subscription to the iPlayer. Just take my money, really, please?

Britbox is supposed to be that, I think, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if the BBC cannot legally sell iPlayer subscriptions as easily as you'd think because the BBC's copyright library (especially music) is unbelievable[1] compared to most other organizations, so they'd have to make multiple versions of everything on their books to deal with licencing issues. Lots of British shows get their soundtracks neutered because of this when they are sold abroad.

[1] Example: Sky Sports F1 is pretty big budget, but they're still stuck using [knock-off version of The Chain] rather than the real thing, whereas the BBC can break out a really expensive song (e.g. Money for nothing by Dire Straits) for a throwaway segment.

Re: TV detector vans once prowled the streets of England

#22

Post by chrisseaton » Mon, Jan 18, 2021, 9:44 PM UTC

CodeGlitch wrote: post #9

With Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, YouTube, etc. the BBC have a hard time justifying the license these days. The only exception would be live sporting events, which is something I don't watch. Given I only watch about 1 hour of "TV" a day I was very glad to stop my license last year. It will not be missed.

It's called a 'TV licence' but know that it also pays for all your radio. I don't watch much TV but I do listen to a lot of radio every day, like many British people.

Re: TV detector vans once prowled the streets of England

#23

Post by mhh__ » Mon, Jan 18, 2021, 9:45 PM UTC

offtop5 wrote: post #3

Pretty sure this was outted as fake. The idea of a van watching you is enough for many to change their behavior

> Pretty sure this was outted as fake.

The technology is completely sound, MI5 invented the rough idea for hunting spies (Operation RAFTER), but whether it was widespread or not? Seems unlikely.

Re: TV detector vans once prowled the streets of England

#24

Post by azornathogron » Mon, Jan 18, 2021, 9:45 PM UTC

zapdrive wrote: post #5

comprev wrote: post #2

Ireland also requires a TV license for each home. If you have any device _capable_ of receiving a signal you're required to pay.... even if you only use the TV for games consoles or Netflix.

Wouldn't it make sense to just add the license fee/tax at the source of sale, just like electronic waste recycling fee etc.

It might. But currently you pay the license fee each year, and it's one license per household. So if it gets bundled in the price of the receiver then you're changing the price model - now if you buy a TV for a spare room you're paying the license fee again, and if you replace your TV earlier than the average you lose out, if you keep your TV for longer than average you win.

I expect it could be made to work, but I have no doubt people would complain about it. And the license fee is not a pure private contract - there is government involvement (hence all the political arguing about whether the BBC should be allowed to increase the fee or get rid of the exemption for senior citizens). So if there's a big change that lots of people complain about then it might be blocked for political reasons even if it actually makes sense over all.

Re: TV detector vans once prowled the streets of England

#25

Post by ortusdux » Mon, Jan 18, 2021, 9:46 PM UTC

myrandomcomment wrote: post #4

I have said this before and I will say it again...Dear BBC, please allow the rest of the world to pay for a subscription to the iPlayer. Just take my money, really, please?

I would imagine a majority of the issue is music licensing rights, as those are usually only purchased for the destination country.

Re: TV detector vans once prowled the streets of England

#26

Post by nisa » Mon, Jan 18, 2021, 9:46 PM UTC

robertlagrant wrote: post #7

myrandomcomment wrote: post #4

I have said this before and I will say it again...Dear BBC, please allow the rest of the world to pay for a subscription to the iPlayer. Just take my money, really, please?

It's astonishing this doesn't happen.

Not really. There are probably ton's of licence boilerplate that requires extra money for the possibility that someone might watch from a different country.

Even content that appears to be directly from the BBC is probably created by some firm that and gave it under some licence terms to the BBC.

There was a stalled imitative to end this bullshit at least inside the EU but the content-lobby was stronger.

Re: TV detector vans once prowled the streets of England

#27

Post by CodeGlitch » Mon, Jan 18, 2021, 9:46 PM UTC

bitcharmer wrote: post #16

CodeGlitch wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Geniune question: what is on the BBC that you would want to watch that you can't get elsewhere?

BBC has awesome content in areas such as nature, science, history. For example go check out BBC Earth or BBC knowledge series.

Check out History Hit TV [1] - a lot of stuff by Dan Snow who is a great presenter IMHO.

[1] https://tv.historyhit.com/

Re: TV detector vans once prowled the streets of England

#28

Post by mhh__ » Mon, Jan 18, 2021, 9:47 PM UTC

ortusdux wrote: post #25

myrandomcomment wrote: post #4

I have said this before and I will say it again...Dear BBC, please allow the rest of the world to pay for a subscription to the iPlayer. Just take my money, really, please?

I would imagine a majority of the issue is music licensing rights, as those are usually only purchased for the destination country.

As I've mentioned in my bigger comment down the thread, the BBC's music (and other material, even things like Album Covers) library is genuinely gargantuan.

Re: TV detector vans once prowled the streets of England

#29

Post by scrooched_moose » Mon, Jan 18, 2021, 9:47 PM UTC

offtop5 wrote: post #3

Pretty sure this was outted as fake. The idea of a van watching you is enough for many to change their behavior

I believe the current theory is they simply look for light leakage. If they see a "flash - 200ms - flash - 400ms - flash - 350ms - flash" pattern leaking through your curtains precisely at the moment the same pattern occurs in a live broadcast they know you're watching.

Re: TV detector vans once prowled the streets of England

#30

Post by CodeGlitch » Mon, Jan 18, 2021, 9:48 PM UTC

chrisseaton wrote: post #22

CodeGlitch wrote: post #9

With Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, YouTube, etc. the BBC have a hard time justifying the license these days. The only exception would be live sporting events, which is something I don't watch. Given I only watch about 1 hour of "TV" a day I was very glad to stop my license last year. It will not be missed.

It's called a 'TV licence' but know that it also pays for all your radio. I don't watch much TV but I do listen to a lot of radio every day, like many British people.

I've not listened to the radio in 10+ years - my audio consumption is all from Podcasts, which IMHO blows any radio out of the water. It's not live but I don't need it to be.