BBC vans are coming for you

True story

I live in a converted building made into flats. Well, two building knocked into one but only one front door. The Beeb licensing unit kept writing to the flats using all 3 addresses ie Flat 1, 20 New Street, Flat 1, 21 New Street, Flat 1 20/21 New Street. I got them to change all the records to point to just 20 New Street. Someone in one of the flats signed up for a license using Flat 1, 21 New Street. Stupid girl.

TV van came around and man with flashing lights on a black box said you've got a telly but no license. The box says so. Girl produces her TV license. Bloke confirms it's legit and says 'But you don't have a TV license'. Huh? What's that in your hand? A TV license for this property. But the box (with the flashing lights) disagrees. Girl tells him to f-off.

When I heard this it just confirmed what I thought all along. The Beeb can't detect shit. They do however have everyones address and just matches license info with addresses.

I cancelled my license and they wanted to know why and where I was going (to make sure that place had a license). Told them to f-off. I wasn't going anywhere, just don't watch TV anymore (mainly!!!).

So, if anyone gets a man with a box with flashing lights at their door - grab it, throw it on the ground and stamp on it. You'll see the inside is empty apart from I assume a couple of AA batteries and a chip to flash the LEDs.

TV detector vans certainly do work

They contain sophisticated receiving equipment that use adaptively filtered EM receivers as well as other signal receptors to detect the leakage of EM and other energy that all video displays radiate, and are capable of comparing the distinctive spectrum of that energy to that of a live TV transmission.

The equipment is extremely unlikely to give a false positive, and will work just as well and in the same manner whether the screen is CRT, LCD or LED, and whether it is being fed from an analogue, digital, terrestrial, satellite or a live TV Internet feed. Large screens are however a lot easier to detect than small screens, and handheld devices are usually not detectable at all unless conditions are exceptionally favourable. It has a fairly big detection range and can be operated from outside the premises.

The equipment in question is part of the van's operator, and is also known as "eyes" and "ears". Look at the windows or any residence at night and the chances are that in a large percentage you will see a characteristic brightening and dimming of light around the edges of the curtains - coming from the screen of a TV set in the room. Look at a block of flats and you will be able to identify all the flats in which the same TV channels are showing as they brighten and dim in perfect synch. If compared with what is currently being broadcast on the most popular TV channels, it will be pretty easy to see if the pattern of bright and dim coincides with what's being broadcast on one of those channels. If so, you could double-check at the appropriate moment by having a listen at the letterbox to see whether the familiar sound of, say, the Eastenders theme tune can be heard, but that is hardly necessary.

Block bbc.co.uk/iplayer domain in router.

How to still avoid £145 fee.

Log in to your router and block the domain bbc.co.uk/iplayer, remove iOS / Android BBC iPlayer Apps from ALL devices, as these don't directly use the domain bbc.co.uk/iplayer. I also removed BBC 'iPlayer' Radio, which is the only thing that bothered me. (some say you don't need to, but probably best to be safe than sorry, the key is in its name)

My biggest problem with the legislation change is I have have not had a TV for more than 10 years, I would accept paying a Netflix £5.99 a month fee to watch iPlayer only, but this change its all or nothing. I don't want a TV in my house because its such a waste of time, I just don't want full blown TV ever again, I've really not missed it, so it ended up as nothing.

My ISP could theoretically prove I have never streamed from bbc.co.uk/iplayer, so if it went to court that would be my evidence, blocking iPlayer in the Netgear router stops anyone accessing it, by mistake.

Then of course, you need to write to the before tomorrow -1st September 2016, describing what steps you have taken, how you understand the change in legislation, how this effects things.

Sounds a pain in the neck, but its easy enough, to jump through their hoops, but don't do this if you think you might try and watch iPlayer at some point, its just not worth it, easier to pay up.

Presumed guilty until you prove yourself innocent

Last time they tried to get to my door the concierge wouldn't let them in the building. Scuppered. Not that I had a TV anyway but they want me to waste my time sending them a letter telling them I don't have a tv then they can waste their time trying to check up on me.

Dear BBC

"happy" to pay this - please ensure all iPlayer content is available to me, online, every day in the year for which I've paid, regardless of location ..

[After all, if it's a "TV License" (right to receive broadcast television signals) then it's linked to the TV (the device), so can't apply to iPlayer; if it's a content access license, it does apply to iPlayer of course, but it's not linked to the device or that device's physical location.]

B&W licence?

How can there be such a thing anymore?

The licence depenps upon the receiver not the screen, since only digital is broadcast now, and all DTTV decoders do colour, this does seem an anacronism.

Counter-measures: use a VPN service IN CONJUCTION WITH OBFSPROXY (OPENVPN+OBFSPROXY).

Can Capita's Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) 'technology' tell the difference between say a livestream from BBC News24, as opposed to, for instance livestream from Youtube, or RT.com, aljazeera.com?

What if you have four or five windows open, and stream from several different websites SIMULTANEOUSLY? Would this muddy the waters?

Even if their 'technology' can differentiate between various livestreams, effective counter-measures exist by using a VPN service IN CONJUCTION WITH OBFSPROXY (OPENVPN+OBFSPROXY).

Several VPN service providers allow this, and such techniques are successful used by millions who reside in even nastier regimes than our own in the UK, such as Iran, China, Pakistan.

Mullvad, NordVPN, Proxy.sh, VPN.AC, are just a small example of the many providers who now provide OPENVPN+OBFSPROXY technology.

Continue to bin the letters, and use a VPN service which has a track record of defeating the Great Firewall of China (one which uses TOR's obfs technology), and continue to use the BBC iplayer (Live or not).

((It may also possible to use STUNNEL in conjunction with a VPN service to defeat DPI)).

At the end of the day the [B]lantantly [B]iased [C]orporation will continue to rely on the same old nasty letters, littered with the phrases such as 'Interview Under Caution' and 'Police And Criminal Evidence' Act, thrown in, to fool the stupid into mistakenly believing that the TV enforcement staff have 'Police Powers'.

Whilst those with a half a brain know it's safe to continue to bin the letters, and shut the door in the face of any inspector who does pay a visit.

Picture this.

Imagine having to pay Microsoft a license fee before you can use a search engine, even Googles, even if you never use Bing, simply because Microsoft doesn't show adverts on it's search results.

If they couldn't spot a peado...

If they couldn't spot a paedophile molesting girls for decades despite him doing so on stage with cameras pointing at him, I highly doubt they'll be able to catch you watching the documentary on iPlayer about how everyone knew at the BBC apart from those able to stop it.

There is no checking other than a database.

See title.

They stopped trying to 'detect' years ago.

Nowadays they use a big database of addresses and cross reference it with which addresses have a license.

Those that don't get letters and visits.

Simple.

The only problem is their letters are very badly written and their visiting staff seem to be vetted to ensure they are twats. (Probably send them to traffic warden school)

I have a license as I think it is great value. Hell, I'd pay it for I'm Sorry I haven't a Clue alone.

Overly complicated?

I'm not British and I don't live in Britain, so maybe I'm missing something here. To me, this sounds like an overly complicated way to get people to pay for content. Why not simply introduce some kind of authentication, your receipt number is your username or something like that, for online content?

To me, the way it works now looks like Netflix streaming their content without password protection of any kind and then sending vans over to peoples home to find out who's using Netflix without paying. It does not make sense to an outsider.

Revenue stream drying

I've got a license because the youngest still wants kiddies tv (though she doesn't like the BBC content). As soon as she doesn't use it anymore then the TV is going. I stopped watching the BBC a long time ago when the News channel became a shit vesion ot Richard & Judy and R4 seems to be going the same way.

They are going to have the same problem as the Sun/Times, as fewer people access their content there will be fewer references to their content (and so on down the plug hole)

Neither culturally relevent nor entertaining, it has become an expensive luxury.

So long BBC, it's been educational (but not any more)

Obvious solution

The obvious solution will be for the government to give access to the 'internet record' stored under the investigatory powers bill so auntie can see exactly what (non vpn/tor, etc) users are up to.

After all what's one extra organisation given the amount of bodies that will also be able to access the data (with no warrant needed)

Don't like paying it, but...............

It is still just about worth it.

I watch about 90 minutes of TV a day, that is all, not a lot.

Favourite channels are BBC2HD & BBC4HD, C4

Occassionally BBC1

Sometimes have to use BBC I Player, this works well, clients on devices I use, it JUST works.

Now ITV, my wife likes some of their sh1t, but she failed to notice the start of a series.

NO repeats despite nearly as many channels as BBC.

shITV player just DOES NOT WORK, shows adverts then blocks you for having APB, er I just saw 3 of the buggers. NO clients for devices I use (2 big selling games consoles), one device actually losing the client (4th or 5th best selling games console).

Beyond Incompetent.

BTW the fix is STV player and greasemonkey.

I object more to companies I buy from advertising on ITV than paying BBC licence fee.

I wonder how many people would stop watching the BBC altogether if...

the BBC made people sign up to iplayer with UID's taken from a TV licence, doing away with the need to sniff wifi. And while the BBC is at it people should be told (when buying a TV) that they need a TV licence for the BBC only, giving the consumer a choice of purchasing a television that isn't tuned into the BBC at all thus negating the need for a licence.

In the UK we have about 80 channels of freeview (no TV licence needed) so who needs the BBC.

BBC vans are coming for you

Has disappeared from the 'Front Page' of El Reg.

Have the black helicopters got you?