Tv licence inspectors

Prof. Nutbutter

I've read the other thread on this, but I've a few more questions that weren't answered there.

Right, I'm a student renting a house with three others. We got a letter the other day informing us about the iminent inspections. now the letter was addressed to one of the previous occupants (it wasn't me who opened it) so technically speaking, we know nothing. Now, leaving aside the ethics of it all, I dont fancy paying it, so I wnat to know how to avoid it.

Were only going to be in the house until May, so I figure, I can avoid the inspectors for as long as possible unntil they finally catch me walking in or out of the house. When this happens, they'll ask if I have a Tv and/or signal equipment, correct? I'll say no, and they'll ask if they can come in. Again I'll say no. And maybe this time while trying to find my keys in my pocket.

Is it true that they need a search warrant accompanied by a Guard to come in and check the house? And if so, how long does this take? I figure if they want to come back with a guard (even though I really dont fancy having one in my house,) I can have the tvs moved to another house and the aerial socket covered over with an electricity socket. How indepth are these searches?

Gone West

KdjaCL

Until a letter is sent to either one of you or "Occupant" shrug your shoulders and say "i dunno".

You be fine till may, just ignore the letters addressed to whoever not there anymore.

kdjac

Prof. Nutbutter

How does the register of names work? If we keep ignoring them, will they check who owns the house? We're with a property management company and they like to do everything above board.

shabbyroad

so basically what you're saying is that you don't want to pay the TV license fee and you're looking for help and advice on how to break the law ?

Why should I subsidize you ? You've got some f'ing nerve.

Red Alert

RTE in fairness are complete junk - they wouldn't need to demand the TV licence fee in addition their ad revenue if they got rid of RTE2 and 2FM Radio.

The Muppet

Prof. Nutbutter wrote:

I figure if they want to come back with a guard (even though I really dont fancy having one in my house,) I can have the tvs moved to another house and the aerial socket covered over with an electricity socket. How indepth are these searches?

Well they are defintely wide to that one. Sometimes they remove all electrical sockets to ensure that they are not disguised TV Points, other times they will just look at the cable point/antenna to see if you are connected. Its the luck of the draw really.

Gone West

Reda alert: 2fm and rte radio1 are both profitable.

angelofdeath

rte already make money from advertising, im not paying any tv license, i very rarely watch tv, the one tv in the house has a dvd player and rte1 and 2 tuned out, even when they were tuned in i got bad reception and im in the middle of a large town, yet i still get letters asking to pay their bloated fee

youll be fine till may, ive been getting the same letter for 6 months and not a sign of them

DublinWriter

shabbyroad wrote:

so basically what you're saying is that you don't want to pay the TV license fee and you're looking for help and advice on how to break the law ?

Why should I subsidize you ? You've got some f'ing nerve.

Sure. So if the Government brought in a 'Walking Licence' in the morning, would you be one of the first to buy one?

I'm all in favour of public service broadcasting, but in reality RTE are not a public service broadcaster because:

THEY RECEIVE 80% OF THEIR REVENUE FROM COMMERICALS

Got that? Read it again:

THEY RECEIVE 80% OF THEIR REVENUE FROM COMMERICALS

The licence fee only comprises 20% of RTE's revenue.

So basically, that's why you'll never see a consumer affairs programme on RTE (such as BBC's excellent 'Watchdog') because it might comprimise an advertiser.

As a TV licence payer, RTE will not tell you where transmitters are located. Try ringing them and asking them. I kid you not.

And thirdly, their output is complete sh1te.

Slag off the Yanks all you like, but at least they have local cable access TV (where by law, YOU are entitled to make a programme on your local cable TV channel on ANYTHING you desire for at most an hour a week) and the excellent national PBS network which is second only to the BBC and relies entirely on public donations.

Rew

My big problem with the TV licence is its not particulary fair. Friend of mine runs a net café and they made him get a TV licence beacause he had TV's for Cube/Xbox/PS2 and for his security camera. Thats just ridiculas.

My GF was caught by an inspecter and she came clean and said they didnt have one (student house) They were only going to be there for about a month or 2 more so he said it would take them that long to change the name and get another letter out so not worry about it. Sound guy, hate to have his job though...

optiplexgx270

Get rid of the feckin TV you should be either studying/in bed/in class or in the pub! :P

OLDYELLAR

They`ll keep sending the letter for ages then one day they`ll call around so if the television is near a window keep the curtains shut but they`ll probably know you have one off that signal thing anyway , they`ll ask for the name of one of the occupants , send a letter to them and a couple of months later a letter threatening court hearing if you dont pay , but i reckon ye`ll be gone before that comes , although you`d want to keep an eye out for that court letter , thats what happened in our student house anyway , if i was you i`d get one now make the people living with ya chip in and stick your name on it , that way you have a license for a year for if you move somewhere else in next years college year , sly like but who cares ,

Hobbes

Rew wrote:

My big problem with the TV licence is its not particulary fair. Friend of mine runs a net café and they made him get a TV licence beacause he had TV's for Cube/Xbox/PS2 and for his security camera. Thats just ridiculas.

You just have to prove that the TV is not capable of recieving local channels and your sorted.

That said, RTE heads once had a tour of a previous job was in and they showed the main tour part on a promotional video in a meeting room. A few weeks later the job got a warning to get a TV license.

Kevin_rc_ie

You just have to prove that the TV is not capable of recieving local channels and your sorted.

could you explain?

Mossy Monk

if you can prove your tv can receive no channels (ie. no tuner) you should be ok. same applies for vcr's, dvd recorders, pc's etc.

the license is a tax for owning a tv not to watch RTÉ so it makes no difference if RTÉ is tuned out

shabbyroad

not correct. know somebody who had a tuner in their tv that was not capable of receiving channels but they still had to pay. feckin joke it was - they only got this particular TV to use for output from a computer-based learning system.

DublinWriter - repeating yourself isn't clever or smart and only makes you look silly - your argument can stand up on its own without it - have some more confidence in yourself kid.

... fortunately they receive 80% of their revenue (if your numbers are correct)... if it was lower than that the TV license fee would be higher.
having viewed some of the local access cable programming I can assure you it's complete garbage and I hope a similar platform for nutcases, extremists and loons isn't made available here. PBS is nowhere near as good as the BBC though their work with the Childrens Television Workshop has to be commended - apart from a limited number of shows they import much of their programming.


The bottom line is that Prof. Nutbutter wants us to subsidize him. Whether anyone likes, views, hates RTE output is irrelevant. A license is required and I think (s)he's taking the piss coming on here and asking for help to get out of paying it.

steppen

Prof. Nutbutter wrote:

How does the register of names work? If we keep ignoring them, will they check who owns the house? We're with a property management company and they like to do everything above board.

Because you and your colleauges are occupants of a rented property, the owner is obliged to pay the licence fee in question for all property that he/she owns. If you have any trouble with the inspectors refer them to the property management company and let them deal with it. It's their job after all.

OLDYELLAR

No ive looked into this , does`nt matter a bol*x who owns the property , the tv license is the responsibility of the occupants.

Mossy Monk

shabbyroad wrote:

not correct. know somebody who had a tuner in their tv that was not capable of receiving channels but they still had to pay

re read my post, i said tv's without tuners

OLDYELLAR

seems like a lot of effort to get out of paying , everyone gets caught in the end , i guess stop being so scabby and pay it , everyone else has to .

Mossy Monk

pay with direct debit every month, you wouldnt even notice it leaving you bank account

angelofdeath

Mossy Monk wrote:

the license is a tax for owning a tv not to watch RTÉ so it makes no difference if RTÉ is tuned out

it's not scabbyness, its not the amount, its the principle, whats next? buy a fridge and have to pay a license to the esb?

it looks like rte's scare tactics with those adverts to bring people around to their way of thinking are working on some people

OLDYELLAR

its the law , everybody pays it ,I dont like it but i had to pay mine , principle bla bla they dont care they just want the money , you could argue you only watch tv3 as that is aparently license free , soon the tv licence will become like car tax and insurance , bigger measures will come in to prevent people getting away with it and rightly so i guess , fair is fair eveyone should pay or nobody should pay i suppose.

WhiteWashMan

angelofdeath wrote:

it's not scabbyness, its not the amount, its the principle, whats next? buy a fridge and have to pay a license to the esb?

thats not a very good analogy. you already pay for your electricity.

angelofdeath wrote:

it looks like rte's scare tactics with those adverts to bring people around to their way of thinking are working on some people

no, its just the law. if you own a tv you need to have a licence. i cant believe people wont shell out a mesely 10 euro or whatever it is these days, to get programs on tv.
i mean, seriously, are you all that fúcking tight?

angelofdeath

lol, yeah very bad analogy there

edit:// and btw its 121 euro

OFDM

The whole idea of a TV licence is stupid - you need licences for things that are potentially dangerous, like owning guns, driving vehicles, piloting aircraft, fishing (those hooks are sharp little buggers...) - what damage can I do with a tv*?


* sounds like an interesting topic for a thread

OFDM

optiplexgx270 wrote:

Get rid of the feckin TV you should be either studying/in bed/in class or in the pub! :P

Preferably in bed with a hot piece of ass

[edit]Sorry about that, thought i was on the Slydice board again there...[/edit]

sound_wave

OFDM wrote:

- what damage can I do with a tv*?

You could drop it from a height onto someone!

Chong

You all think thats bad well the English are considering havin a computer tax.

OLDYELLAR

Willem D wrote:

You all think thats bad well the English are considering havin a computer tax.

yea i heard about that , whats the craic with it ?

voxpop

As i understand it , you need a tv license for each tv - whether it is recieves a signal or not.

You cant really compare rte to bbc - the bbc get a license fee from a few more million people than rte.

The fee is supposed to go into creating home grown programs - most are crap but every now and again a good one gets through i.e. the panel

As i see it the tv license should be something that is means tested - so for example students,low income familes,etc shouldnt have to pay the tv license,where as everyone who can afford it "should" pay - sounds a bit more fair

Chong

OLDYELLAR wrote:

yea i heard about that , whats the craic with it ?

Could you imagine if that actually happens, its bound to come here.

OLDYELLAR

Willem D wrote:

Could you imagine if that actually happens, its bound to come here.

hell yea if its coming in in England , dont ya know it`l be coming in over here.Bloody ridiculous , .

Prof. Nutbutter

shabbyroad wrote:

so basically what you're saying is that you don't want to pay the TV license fee and you're looking for help and advice on how to break the law ?

Yes, bang on. Like I said, I'm not going to get into the ethics of it. I just want some help from some fellow scumbag lawbreakers into acellerating the decline of society as we know it by not paying my TV licence. Its probably just all these teenage hormones, I'm sure I'll grow out of it in a few years and beg RTE for forgivness.

But in the mean time, if we could get back to the topic at hand. Can anyone else verify The Muppet's comments on the searches? Have any of the rest of ye criminals been subject to such facism?

leeroybrown

angelofdeath wrote:

edit:// and btw its 121 euro

152 Euro

Angry_Penguin wrote:

As i understand it , you need a tv license for each tv - whether it is recieves a signal or not.

No. You're required to have one television license for each house/flat/business you have that has a device capable of recieving a TV signal. Multiple TV's can be used under one license and a TV is only exempt from the fee if it is classified as being incapible of recieving a TV signal (broken TV's still count).

Legally it is also the responsibility of the tenant to have a TV license.

Milkman

I thought if the landlord supplies a tele with the premises then its thier responsibility to have a licence.
If its your tele then its up to you.

M.

Kingsize

i presume the computer tax will be a point of purchase affair.
which in my opinion is what should happen with the tv licence.
nowadays they dont need to drive around in a special van they just figure out which households havent got a licence.they also have access to ntl accounts too.
its a bit of a crapp system really because it really is down to whether you get caught or not , also you can avoid paying it for ages, in fact even if you eventually get taken to court you can turn up in court with the cash.
its best if they dont get your name though.
for our student friend who wants to avioid paying it, just dont answer the door to people you dont know, youre not breaking the law by not opening your hall door to complete strangers are you??get a tv licence stampbook & stick about 30 quids worth of stamps in it, then if you do get caught you can show the inspector & tell him youre making the effort etc etc
i shared a house with a few other blokes a couple of years ago,the inspector came around one day & my housemate answered the door in his boxers,told him that it was his girlfriends house & wouldnt give him any info.
the inspector said he'd be back but he never arrived during our time in the house.
btw most of RTE's "better" programs attract enough advertising interest to be
self sufficient,the licence fee needs to be better policed & FAIRLY PRICED, its a catch 22 i.e. really why should i pay it to subsidise those who dont pay it?
seriously though , why should the average tv licence holder subsidise the RTE CONCERT ORCHESTRA?

WhiteWashMan

Milkman wrote:

I thought if the landlord supplies a tele with the premises then its thier responsibility to have a licence.
If its your tele then its up to you.

M.

no.

the same way that its up to the tennent to pay for the electricity, the water and whatever else.