The BBC World Cup Broadband trap!

Are you saying the BBC shouldn't run any radio services that don't attract enormous audiences? Does the phrase Public Service not mean anything to you??

I challenge you. Name me a staff job at the BBC that's paid up to 5 times the rate it would attract at ITV. Just one.
Do you have any evidence for this? I work with a lot of BBC departments and I haven't encountered a single one that's spoiled for choice about how to spend vast wads of surplus cash.

Or perhaps the thoughts of moving things around MIGHT be driven by the idea that, if the whole country is paying the licence fee, the spending of that money by the BBC should be spread around the country too? Supporting local/regional economies is a bad thing, is it? BBC Monitoring, as another poster has pointed out, does not cost the licence payer a bean.
And the "waste of space" that is the BBC R&D operation has indeed contributed nothing to the common good. Unless of course you count the world's first video recording machine, RDS, Teletext, Nicam, electronic standards conversion, DAB, HDTV, radio-link cameras for TV OBs, Heli-tele, Stump Cam ....... yeah, you're right, they're a bunch of wasters!!!

Thank you, Baroness, I was about to make that particular point as well, then got to the bottom and found you'd beaten me to it.

Not to detract from BBC R&D in any way, but one or two of those examples were co-productions with the people at the IBA at Crawley Court.

i read somewhere (possibly the Guardian) that some electronics store chains have now been told to pass on addresses for any purchase of a broadband enabled laptop. I'll try and find the article later...

I guess the question is whether this counts as a TV programme?

Wait a minute. What do you mean by "broadband enabled laptop"? I hate it when they use buzzwords like that. Ones with any type of network connection?

Would TVL extend the license to any computer which has the capability to receive packets via a network interface (be it cabled or wireless)? If so, then that'll include pretty much every off the the shelf computer these days. I seriously doubt if they will though, sounds like a logistical nightmare.

It's simple.

TVL cannot enforce the rule if you are watching via the internet. How can they prove that I'm watching BBC programmes over the net?

They're just scaring people into buying licences when they don't need to.

Simon

Let us get one thing straight here, Sascha. It is NOT a subscription fee to recieve BBC programmes.

It IS a fee that licences you to recieve ALL television and radio programmes.

But if the BBC didn't exist, neither would the licence fee. I already pay £200 a year to receive Sky and I really don't watch the BBC at all. If I could block off the BBC channels from my sky box, I would. I don't need or want the BBC.

You need a licence for any 'near-live' broadcasts such as 2 minute delays etc. On demand content doesn't require one.

Are you sure the Government wouldn't exploit that situation and continue the license (hopefully at a lower level) with some reason like "it's to pay for Ofcom services" or something?

Whether the BBC gets it or not, we will still continue to pay a license fee I'm sure!

...which has nothing to do with the thread.

And incidentally, freedom of expression is alive and well here on TV Forum. However, it does not extend as far as making libellous comments about organisations, however much you may disagree with their practices.

Stating that the licence fee is obtained through "intimidation, lies and stealth" is not an acceptable comment any more than if I were to suggest that your mother makes her money by pimping young children and mugging elderly people. It's simply not acceptable, and it's a shame that you clearly don't understand the distinction between freedom of expression and freedom to spread false and potentially damaging accusations.

If you're at work it could be quite easy, depending on the network setup. Identifying home users would usually require the assistance of the ISP.

David