can tv license detect you are viewing TV thru internet?

[mystvearn]

Hi,

My friend got a tv license letter, but she is watching tv online. I thought you were anonymous online. I know they can detect thru cable, satelite, aerial, but I have never heard detecting thru internet. Is it possible?

Thanks

[Swiftie]

The letter she received was it addressed to her personally or just the OCCUPIER?

[DJSimo]

Hi,

My friend got a tv license letter, but she is watching tv online. I thought you were anonymous online. I know they can detect thru cable, satelite, aerial, but I have never heard detecting thru internet. Is it possible?

Thanks

they cant detect at all they just work off a database, even if they have got this mythical equipment that detects you it cant be used against you.

Quote from another site

"it is irrelevant whether the detection technology the BBC/TVL claims to have actually works. Evidence cannot be heard in a court of law unless it is available to both the prosecution and the defense, and since TV Licensing and the BBC refuse to disclose the technology they use, gathered results cannot be admitted as evidence."

[on_the_jazz]

Is she watching tv through iplayer? Afaik that doesn't require a tv license.

[roo001]

they cant detect at all they just work off a database, even if they have got this mythical equipment that detects you it cant be used against you.

Quote from another site

"it is irrelevant whether the detection technology the BBC/TVL claims to have actually works. Evidence cannot be heard in a court of law unless it is available to both the prosecution and the defense, and since TV Licensing and the BBC refuse to disclose the technology they use, gathered results cannot be admitted as evidence."

Quite rightly i agree with DJSimo but it is confirmed that they use a top end customised frequency scanner, as mentioned they can't use the evidence from frequency scanner in court

As for internet detection it a load of b*****s, you friwnd may have in advertantly entered details on a third party site which had a sharing agreement with TV Lic. Or any similar social engineering tactic was most definately used, be carefull of where you register and most importantly have emails and other registration info readily created and only used for the one purpose of registring, and make sure none of ur details are actually true, if and when satisfied and only then provide ur correct details, in some cases u have to in order to pay but i would excersise a little patience with causion these days

Your friend gave the game away inadvertantly over the net

[tshirtman]

I used to work for the royal mail, this is where TV detector vans operate from, i used to drive them for overtime work
and i can tell you, all that is in the back of the vans are two benches where the inspectors sit, they have a list of addresses that dont possess a licence, as a TV is a receiver not a transmitter no TV detector vans could tell if you had a TV, never mind what channel you're watching.
one other thing, you are not obliged to let any TV licence inspector in to your home, they would need a court order to come in without your permission

[chroma]

Just an FYI your never anonymous on the internet, never have been and never will be.

The problem comes down to proof.
The only way to prove your someone is through gaining court orders to track your ip from your isp.

There are otherways to pinpoint exactly who you are online (some not even reuiring an IP but they wouldnt stand up in court.

[forntida]

Is she watching tv through iplayer? Afaik that doesn't require a tv license.

If you watch or record tv programs on any device while the program is being transmitted on TV then you require a licence.

Device = Computer, DVR, dvd/video recorder etc.

[waqasahmed]

all these vans are just there to scare people. People once upon a time thought you could be detected by VM with Eurovoxes etc... and VM vans came around with some sort of radar, picked them up and then sent a code out to stop them Until you paid someone ?20 to "re chip" them

[ruudvandan]

Yeah thhey just work off databases with no detection equipment at all. I had the TV License people turn up when I was decorating my new house before I moved in. If they had the "scanning equipment" they claim to then they would have found that I had no TV there. I took the piss out of him - the conversation went something like this:

-I don't need a TV License, I'm exempt.
-No you're not, nobody's exempt
-I am
-OK then why are you exempt, do you have a telly?
-Yes (my TV was at my house where I was living and my Dad had a license there)
-Then you need a license
-No I don't
-If you have a television then you need a license - end of story
-But I don't watch BBC
-That's besides the point (gettin a little agitated now)
- No it isn't. I am well aware of the law and I am exempt

He kept coming back at me and I kept on telling him I was exempt (really pissin him off) and through his questioning he eventually found out that my TV was at my Dads

-So has your Dad got a license then?
-Yes
-Well why the hell didn't you tell me then
-I did, as soon as you asked
-Why didn't you tell me before then?
-Because if you'd have done you job properly and used your detection equipment on my house then you would have found that there is no TV here - you've wasting my time and pissed me off with all these enforcement letters you've been sending me, so I wasted yours.

[dogsdinner]

I bet your friend doesn?t have a dodgy cable box, if she?s worried about a TV license.

Last I heard they had bought an airport type x-ray scanner that can look straight though walls and see if your television is on or off.

[Meat-Head]

i was told wen i was younger, so much younger than today
the tv detectors ARE real, but how it worked was off the 6MHZ osclatter in the tv set.

I MIGHt BE INCORRECT, but the word on the street is
a flatscreen lcd tv does not have this.

so if you use a cable/satalie system coupled to an projector
as long as the volume isn't blasting out! is the word on the street

[forntida]

Yeah thhey just work off databases with no detection equipment at all. I had the TV License people turn up when I was decorating my new house before I moved in. If they had the "scanning equipment" they claim to then they would have found that I had no TV there. I took the piss out of him - the conversation went something like this:

-I don't need a TV License, I'm exempt.
-No you're not, nobody's exempt
-I am
-OK then why are you exempt, do you have a telly?
-Yes (my TV was at my house where I was living and my Dad had a license there)
-Then you need a license
-No I don't
-If you have a television then you need a license - end of story
-But I don't watch BBC
-That's besides the point (gettin a little agitated now)
- No it isn't. I am well aware of the law and I am exempt

He kept coming back at me and I kept on telling him I was exempt (really pissin him off) and through his questioning he eventually found out that my TV was at my Dads

-So has your Dad got a license then?
-Yes
-Well why the hell didn't you tell me then
-I did, as soon as you asked
-Why didn't you tell me before then?
-Because if you'd have done you job properly and used your detection equipment on my house then you would have found that there is no TV here - you've wasting my time and pissed me off with all these enforcement letters you've been sending me, so I wasted yours.

I had a similar situation 35 years ago. I had just moved house and changed my TV licence from Black and White to a Colour one.
Three months later and after counless letters to renew my TV licence or I would be taken to court I phone up them up;

Me, 'I am phoning up to complain about getting pestered about my TV licence'.

Them,' what is your name and address etc'

Them, 'Yes we are correct. You have not renewed your Black and White TV licence. If you do not do it soon you could be prosecuted'

Me, ' Just as a matter of interest where did you get my address from?'

Them, ' We got it off your Coloured Televi.... OooH'.

Phone was cut off.

[Walkinmyshadow]

I bet your friend doesn?t have a dodgy cable box, if she?s worried about a TV license.

Last I heard they had bought an airport type x-ray scanner that can look straight though walls and see if your television is on or off.

Hahahahaha...oh my god i think ive just pissed myself!!!

[opsmonkey]

if your friend watches TV streamed from a site such as Hotdubz or IraqiGoals then no.. If your friend buys a USB Freeview stick and doesn't plug in the laptop ac adapter then also no TV licence is needed.. Battery operated TV's need no licence, if your laptop is not plugged in to th mains then its running off its battery..