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TV detector vans once prowled the streets of England

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Re: TV detector vans once prowled the streets of England

#91

Post by haspok »

lqet wrote: post #38

> The United Kingdom is somewhat unique in the world for requiring those households which view broadcast television to purchase a licence for the privilege. I know at least three countries (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) which do the same (edit: according the Wikipedia [0], such a fee exists in basically every European country, Japan, Israel, South Korea and Namibia). In Germany, the situation changed a few years…

At least in the UK there is content on TV worthy of watching (I got addicted to snooker while there, also some quite interesting shows like "Benefits Britain: Life on the Dole"), also, when I moved overseas they paid back the licence fee for the remaining part of the year, no questions asked.

Now I'm in Austria and the "content" on TV channels is just ridiculous. Targeted at 70+ pensioners, but why should I pay for their entertainment...

Re: TV detector vans once prowled the streets of England

#92

Post by Tomte »

sleavey wrote: post #80
lqet wrote: post #38

> The United Kingdom is somewhat unique in the world for requiring those households which view broadcast television to purchase a licence for the privilege. I know at least three countries (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) which do the same (edit: according the Wikipedia [0], such a fee exists in basically every European country, Japan, Israel, South Korea and Namibia). In Germany, the situation changed a few years…

> In Germany, the situation changed a few years ago, every household has to pay now, even if they don't own a television or radio. This was literally the first piece of mail I got when I moved to Germany: a letter demanding I pay for the TV networks I don't watch. I didn't even own a TV by that point, nor would have understood much of what was being said! A German explained to me once that the forced payment by non-w…

The trick is to watch the smaller "third programmes" or the programmes with special focus, not the big two (ARD and ZDF).

Then you'll see a plethora of really well-made documentations about regions in Germany, regions in the world, culture, archeology etc.

The third programmes are also where new comedians, hosts and artists are given a chance to refine their show concepts and prove themselves.

Re: TV detector vans once prowled the streets of England

#93

Post by 4ggr0 »

A bit off-topic maybe, sorry.

I am not from the UK, but quite a large chunk of things I watch on YouTube are british panel shows. I'm just in love with them. Which seems funny to me, because as a non-uk twenty year old, I don't think that I'm the target demographic for these shows.

"8 out of 9 cats does countdown", "Would I lie to you?" and of course my favourite, "Taskmaster". Thanks for all of these great shows. "Blackadder", "A Bit of Fry and Laurie" and "Monty Python" are great as well...

Re: TV detector vans once prowled the streets of England

#94

Post by avh02 »

simonh wrote: post #82
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

They were a real thing. When an old style TV amplifies the TV signal and feeds it to the CRT tube, it leaks a lot of the boosted signal. I think the rumour that the vans were a fake was probably because they only ever had a few and it was mostly a propaganda show, but that doesn't mean they didn't exist. Intelligence agencies used receivers to snoop in on CRT computer monitor signals and could re-generate the display…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Eck_phreaking

when i read that article years ago i went in to a huge rabbit hole about side-channel attacks. A lot of the information from that reading spree has stuck with me

Re: TV detector vans once prowled the streets of England

#95

Post by jamesrr39 »

progre wrote: post #76
cpach wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sweden also had this system until recently.

Also, alledgely, using scanners to catch cheaters. Though I got a visit from a man checking for unlicensed TV sets once and he didn't have a scanner, just a long list of people that didn't have a TV license.

I bought a new TV and got a phone call from Radiotjänst a couple of weeks later, asking where they should send the bill for the TV license. Busted!

Now that the fee is discontinued, and it comes out of tax money instead, I sure don't miss getting those invoices.

Re: TV detector vans once prowled the streets of England

#96

Post by wodenokoto »

Legend goes that back in the 80's DR (the Danish "version" of BBC) would buy ads on top of taxis, placing a funny looking widget and text on the side saying "This is a TV detector van" to scare people into registering for paying their TV license.

According to the story, DR never had the technology (or new it existed) to do an actual TV detection.

I heard the story from an old interview from a retired DR manager, who said that they did this. So source wise it is pretty weak, but still a funny story none-the-less.

Re: TV detector vans once prowled the streets of England

#97

Post by dsnr »

sleavey wrote: post #80
lqet wrote: post #38

> The United Kingdom is somewhat unique in the world for requiring those households which view broadcast television to purchase a licence for the privilege. I know at least three countries (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) which do the same (edit: according the Wikipedia [0], such a fee exists in basically every European country, Japan, Israel, South Korea and Namibia). In Germany, the situation changed a few years…

> In Germany, the situation changed a few years ago, every household has to pay now, even if they don't own a television or radio. This was literally the first piece of mail I got when I moved to Germany: a letter demanding I pay for the TV networks I don't watch. I didn't even own a TV by that point, nor would have understood much of what was being said! A German explained to me once that the forced payment by non-w…

> A German explained to me once that the forced payment by non-watchers is justified as it benefits society as a whole.

Do they really believe these things? This is the Kool-Aid you have to drink as a society, in order not to go crazy when you pay for things you never use and benefit from.

If you ever move out, make sure to let them know, otherwise they will keep hunting you for ever.

Re: TV detector vans once prowled the streets of England

#98

Post by Nux »

Unpopular opinion: I agree to and support the BBC TV license.

I think most of their TV and radio programmes are as good as they come. The Brits are lucky to have it.

"But Netflix, Prime!.." - sorry, that's 99% dopamine inducing mindless entertainment, Idiocracy-style. I want more than that, for me and my family.

They can never replace quality programmes done without so much pressure for investment returns, engagement etc.

Re: TV detector vans once prowled the streets of England

#99

Post by simonh »

avh02 wrote: post #94
simonh wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They were a real thing. When an old style TV amplifies the TV signal and feeds it to the CRT tube, it leaks a lot of the boosted signal. I think the rumour that the vans were a fake was probably because they only ever had a few and it was mostly a propaganda show, but that doesn't mean they didn't exist. Intelligence agencies used receivers to snoop in on CRT computer monitor signals and could re-generate the display…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Eck_phreaking when i read that article years ago i went in to a huge rabbit hole about side-channel attacks. A lot of the information from that reading spree has stuck with me

That's it, the name rings a bell. I was in 6th form in the UK (high school) in 1985 so the timing matches.

Re: TV detector vans once prowled the streets of England

#100

Post by tosteris »

SheinhardtWigCo wrote: post #70
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 don’t believe there has been a single conviction based upon evidence gathered by these vans. They’re like lie detector machines - useful only as a tool to get people to confess. Same with the inspectors, they’re private citizens with no legal authority to enter a property without permission. Their purpose is to cultivate fear of prosecution, not to recoup lost revenue.

> I don’t believe there has been a single conviction based upon evidence gathered by these vans

According to the article they were not intended for convictions but instead to get a search warrant and then gather evidence for a conviction.

So who knows how many convictions were started because of the vans. Though I agree that the fear factor probably did help more than the search warrants.

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