TV License at University

[jims-terrano]

A quick question guys about TV Licensing.

My daughter is going to university in a few weeks time. Officially students at universities are supposed to have a tv license if they intend to watch television even through devices such as phones and laptops. She does want to keep up watching some of the series on mainstream tv such as bbc and itv.

So my question is how on earth is anyone going to enter a campus with 1000 accommodation rooms and check who is watching tv either by aerial or online and if these people have a license or not.

I’m pretty certain tv detector vans are a thing of the past and even when they had them they were fake. I doubt ofcom or whoever does tv licensing will have the money to go looking for people without licenses either.

What’s everyone’s opinions on this?

[macabethiel]

Originally Posted by jims-terrano

A quick question guys about TV Licensing.

My daughter is going to university in a few weeks time. Officially students at universities are supposed to have a tv license if they intend to watch television even through devices such as phones and laptops. She does want to keep up watching some of the series on mainstream tv such as bbc and itv.

So my question is how on earth is anyone going to enter a campus with 1000 accommodation rooms and check who is watching tv either by aerial or online and if these people have a license or not.

I’m pretty certain tv detector vans are a thing of the past and even when they had them they were fake. I doubt ofcom or whoever does tv licensing will have the money to go looking for people without licenses either.

What’s everyone’s opinions on this?

When I was at Uni 1967-71 I was in Digs so watched the Landlady's TV. When it was Top of the Pops on a Wednesday night we all went to the Students Union TV room for the giant screen to watch the upskirt shots of girls in Mini Dresses!

When I had a Flat for the last year I think the old rules allowed students to have a TV when away from home. Didn't matter as I could not afford a TV anyway being on a full local authority grant that was very liveable !

I would not be surprised if the Halls of Residence have their own enforcement rules.

[jims-terrano]

Well apparently we have ok wife has just found out from tv licensing that if the following are met there is no need for a license. She will get a letter regarding a tv license which is standard to all students and she has to tick the box that she doesn’t need a license.
A. As long as the device is solely battery powered.
B. As long as the device is not connected to a antenna or connected to the mains electricity supply.
C. Your main address that you go back to for half term breaks is covered by a license.

So her mobile phone or laptop is legal as long as she is not charging at the time of watching TV.

Seems far too complex to me and far easier to make students exempt or something.

[rayf3262]

I work at the university of east Anglia, every year TVL pointlessly sent a letter to the occupier of EVERY room on campus and we have over 4500 rooms!
Needless to say the TVL threatograms float around the campus for a couple of weeks until the grounds staff manage to capture it all.
I doubt many students give it a second thought.....

[macabethiel]

Originally Posted by jims-terrano

Well apparently we have ok wife has just found out from tv licensing that if the following are met there is no need for a license. She will get a letter regarding a tv license which is standard to all students and she has to tick the box that she doesn’t need a license.
A. As long as the device is solely battery powered.
B. As long as the device is not connected to a antenna or connected to the mains electricity supply.
C. Your main address that you go back to for half term breaks is covered by a license.

So her mobile phone or laptop is legal as long as she is not charging at the time of watching TV.

Seems far too complex to me and far easier to make students exempt or something.

Don't think they know when your laptop is connected to the mains even if detector vans existed!

[jims-terrano]

Originally Posted by macabethiel

Don't think they know when your laptop is connected to the mains even if detector vans existed!

Well to be honest I think it’s the modern version of an honesty box at a farm gate next to a box of eggs.

Way I look at it you register with bbc iPlayer, they can trace the university external ip address but they cannot get internal from that due to Fire wall and obviously different ip ranges. Uni could give them access to their internal network and be able to trace an individual device along with mac address and device name as well as segment of the network so it’s possible to trace a device.
Then they would have to prove who was watching might of been borrowed without her consent. It just isn’t financially worth while any authority doing all that.

[terranosaurusdoug]

Try something like virtual shield, you can change your vpn to make it look like your in germany or wherever, keeos all your activities private too