Sweden: socialism. Check!
Sweden To Charge TV Tax For Anyone With A Computer or Tablet
31–40 of 75 posts
Re: Sweden To Charge TV Tax For Anyone With A Computer or Tablet
#32I think it is only a matter of time before the UK moves to something like this. We have TV licensees to fund the BBC but with more and more of the content that they produce being available on-line though iPlayer things will have to change. I believe the BBC's charter is up for renegotiation in about four years and it would be the perfect time to make the change.
I actually think this is pretty reasonable - everybody I know consumes BBC content in some form (most of them without paying the license fee) and it's a small price to pay for the presence of an impartial news source.
Re: Sweden To Charge TV Tax For Anyone With A Computer or Tablet
#33How is the tax actually/to be charged though?
If I'm understanding it correctly, there's already a TV license in place that households pay. This update just means if your house doesn't have a TV, and instead consumes all media on a tablet or similar device, you still need to pay the fee, where as before you could argue you didn't need to pay it for lack of a TV.
Correct. Communism at its finest.
Re: Sweden To Charge TV Tax For Anyone With A Computer or Tablet
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
The point is that you in theory (!!!) get media this way that do not depend on advertisement and are thus more independent from industry influence. This in turn leads to you being able to profit from this even if you do not watch the programs and/or listen to the radio, simply because this injects a different kind of media into the media landscape which in turn other media interact with (newspapers, websites, blogs e…
Then why not just pay for it out of taxes like Finland does? That seems cheaper overall than a license fee system with inspectors. And if your view is valid, then that means the small (<3%) of the people with no TV and no internet are getting a social benefit without paying for it.
Because if it's funded by the Government then it becomes a Government TV station. Using a 'BBC' method where there is a law requiring the license fee to be paid and allows for a third party to collect it and deliver the money direct to the broadcaster. This design can loosen the influence the government has on the channel. Whether you agree with the outcome or not, the idea is that the BBC's of this world are not government spokes-channels.
Re: Sweden To Charge TV Tax For Anyone With A Computer or Tablet
#35Enjoy your taxes Sweden. I hope it's worth it.
Re: Sweden To Charge TV Tax For Anyone With A Computer or Tablet
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
We also have it hear in Denmark. It's called »medielicens« and technically not a tax, but a licence fee (BBC subscribers will understand). It is also required even if you do not use any of DR's services (DR being 'Danish Broadcasting'), but own any form of media device. Most people I know do not pay it, however.
Wait what? How do you not pay it? Just throw out the bills they send you?
"Oh why hello, thanks for calling, no, sorry, I do not own a TV, computer or tablet - I often spend time at my friends home and uses his computer and TV."
This is how people avoid it in Sweden. However, the stores are obliged to report in when you purchase a TV, but all of these things can be avoided by simple lies ("I gave the TV to my friend for his birthday"), and many do so.
Re: Sweden To Charge TV Tax For Anyone With A Computer or Tablet
#37I think it is only a matter of time before the UK moves to something like this. We have TV licensees to fund the BBC but with more and more of the content that they produce being available on-line though iPlayer things will have to change. I believe the BBC's charter is up for renegotiation in about four years and it would be the perfect time to make the change.
It's already law in the UK for live channels. If you have no TV but only watch BBC1 live through iPlayer, you must have a TV license. However, you don't need a TV license to watch time delayed programs (so anything from the iPlayer archive), so perhaps this is an area where the law will change, although it never has for TV.
Re: Sweden To Charge TV Tax For Anyone With A Computer or Tablet
#38I think it is only a matter of time before the UK moves to something like this. We have TV licensees to fund the BBC but with more and more of the content that they produce being available on-line though iPlayer things will have to change. I believe the BBC's charter is up for renegotiation in about four years and it would be the perfect time to make the change.
I got rid of my TV licence when it came up for renewal at Christmas, and just watch on-demand content via iPlayer now. (Well, that was all I did before, but I've removed the little-used TV receiver from my house now.) I can see them charging for computers in the future - but how would it work? Would they suddenly charge every office, for instance? We have an office with no TV but full of computers. None are used for…
I thought they already technically did. Don't you need to have a license to watch iplayer in an office? Ah, found a link, you don't need it for on demand, just live streaming, but stil...
http://iplayerhelp.external.bbc.co.uk/help/playing_tv_progs/...
Re: Sweden To Charge TV Tax For Anyone With A Computer or Tablet
#39It's not a tax. It's a fee, required to pay by law to fund independent channels of opinion free from government and/or private funded influence. 200 eur a year is quite cheap for what you get. http://www.radiotjanst.se/en/Radio-and-TV-fee/
>It's not a tax. It's a fee, required to pay by law to fund independent channels of opinion free from government and/or private funded influence.
Distinction without a difference. Would I be wrong if I tried to argue that an income tax is not a tax, but rather, a fee required by law to fund public schools, bureaucrats, and roads?
Re: Sweden To Charge TV Tax For Anyone With A Computer or Tablet
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's over $20 per month. That would buy several premium content subscriptions for "traditional media" such as The New Yorker, Netflix, Hulu Plus, etc. and quite a bit more "new media" content. For some of the content, it will be difficult to make the case that traditional media cost structures have to be maintained.
Exactly! A varied collection of premium content from various sources will together form a much broader and more accurate picture than trusting "independent" media with your life.
I suspect it depends on what the offering is. If I had to choose between every commercial TV channel and the BBC for the rest of my life, the BBC would get my vote without hesitation (assuming it maintained its current level of quality).