Tv licence - i dont own a tv..

sbsquarepants · 06-09-2011 01:01PM

u_c_thesecond wrote: »

i relly hate havn to get the tv licence, it breaks my heart really- a pointless tax for ****e RTE channels!:mad: and what kills me is i know plenty of people who havnt paid in years and nothing is ever said to them, 2 years ago i was 2 weeks late paying mine and id a ****ing inspector at the door

robbing bastards!

A mate of mine recently bought a house, his missus is a bit of a worrier and was insisting on geting a tv licence. I told them not to bother, i've lived in my place for nearly 8 years and no one has ever called, better things to spend your hard earned money on and so on.
So she reluctantly agreed to leave it for a while...they moved in on a monday and the inspector called that thursday!:)

Seachmall · 06-09-2011 01:04PM

phantom_lord wrote: »

Under what article?

Article 38.1

"No person shall be tried on any criminal charge save in due course of law"

Heaney v Ireland '94. The precedent was set that this article specified that it was the law's job to bring charges and that the defendant had the right not to self-incriminate.

Edit:
Source

drdeadlift · 06-09-2011 02:45PM

If your not willing to pay,they ask if you have a tv were does the self incrimination lark fit in?

Seachmall · 06-09-2011 03:07PM

drdeadlift wrote: »

If your not willing to pay,they ask if you have a tv were does the self incrimination lark fit in?

You can close the door on them and not respond.

bryaner · 06-09-2011 03:11PM

Tv licencing collection is up for tender next year afaik, could get messy if some ruthless shower get it..

Azureus · 06-09-2011 03:18PM

Hate tv licence people-have one for my old place and never transferred it to my new address-pure effort, probably should get around to that...
Got away with it for years but got collared a few months ago. Two days into moving into the new place I had a letter from em-nothing since tho

Snakeblood · 06-09-2011 03:37PM

paddyandy wrote: »

I have found most television as a sort of empty pleasure that leaves me tired.It is unreal.

That's pornography for me.

120_Minutes · 07-09-2011 03:48PM

I moved into a ground floor apartment (town house really) during the summer. Landlady was against me getting sky but relented if installation was clean etc. So the sky guy calls round and we discuss it, lo and behold notice next door has a dish with a quad lnb with 2 free outputs. I suggest we take the feed from it, he agrees as it's less work. No dish on my apartment win/win.

Fast forward to last week and the doorbell goes. Now we NEVER answer unexpected bell rings but for some reason I did. Tv licence guy. I tell him "oh we just moved in, we don't have a tv" you can't see the tv from our front window, and he looks and sees no dish/ ariel, so he walks away happy.

I never usually get one over on the man, but damn that felt good. And the 160 staying in my pocket feels even better.

paddyandy · 07-09-2011 10:08PM

Surely it seems a given natural right that everything in your home is your lawful possession and should that not include all signals that pass through your home without your permission???That Signal is present without your permission and like a brazen intruder demands a fee?What do you think?Is there not something amiss somewhere in the process of it all.Constitutional question here?

real stig · 07-09-2011 10:46PM

Whats going to happen when tv is saorview, no need for an ariel on your house so I assume the inspector would have to come in and check to see if you have a tv and as was pointed out earlier in the thread you do not have to do so??

gbee · 07-09-2011 10:48PM

As for people thinking they pull the wool over the inspector's eyes by hiding TV or antenna, they have RFDF equipment ~ remember those old Vans with the cone on top?

Well these were direction finders and RF Analysers ~ today they are hand held and and record an RF signature of your house or block of flats ~ so the inspector does not in fact need to enter your property to know what electronics you've got let alone the big, big BIG TV signature ~ even when OFF ~ it take a few weeks for the capacitors to die down and go silent.

The point about signals being beamed all over the place and invading one's own home is valid IMO ~ this stuff is dangerous and the microwave stuff even moreso.

In the US Microwave is considers above 300MHz ~ in Ireland it's above 1,000MHz ~ that's a massive difference and I for one side with the yanks on this one ~

On phones, there have been 'patches' and 'blockers' available to protect the user from excessive radiation, there is a bill before the EU to actually ban the use of mobile phone for children under 12 years of age ~ that should be rushed through and passed.

Radio has had an extraordinary influence in our very existence, the development of the Earth's magnetic field may have paved the way for man producing life on this planet as we are particularly susceptible to the sun radio waves and it would have deformed our evolution from the primordial soup and man would never have evolved.

To that end, astronomers are looking for the signature of a magnetic field around planets as these are now considered the only one's capable of supporting or developing life.

But as the Sun shows us ~ too much of the same kills us ~ it's creepy to think about it but for sure ~ micro wave TV transmission and microwave phone cells should never have been allowed.

Little Acorn · 08-09-2011 04:04AM

So if you don't watch tv, but just watch tv shows online on your laptop/pc you don't need a tv license.
If you use a tv as a monitor for your internet[or just use it for dvds/games], you still need a tv license even if you do not watch tv on it, purely because the monitor is a tv that is capable of receiving a tv signal [unless you sabotage it in some way].
Is this correct?

If you have a tv that would be capable of receiving a tv signal if it had an aerial, but you have no aerial/coat hanger, you still need a tv license just for having the tv-correct?

If there is a sky dish attached to your house from previous occupants, who have left leaving a few months sky tv still paid for, and you move in as a new occupant, can they demand that you have a tv license even if you say that you either a. don't have a telly, or b. don't use the sky because your telly can't receive any signals due to you removing the parts required. Can they insist on a tv license just because there are tv stations available, or do you have to have an actual working tv?

If you tune in free stations, that do NOT include RTE stations, you still have to pay tv license, just for having a tv capable of having rte stations even if you don't use them, -correct?

[Just realised the above scenarios are all asking pretty much the same thing, -You need a tv license if you have any tv/device that is capable of receiving tv signals, even if you do not receive/use these signals, and even if you do not have an aerial. Is this correct? Sounds pretty unfair to me if it is.]

You need a license if you have equipment that allows you to receive tv through your laptop/pc. How do they enforce this? Is their laptop/pc inspectors, that check to see if you have one of these devices?

Also regarding the handheld devices that can pick up tv signals from outside your home, are these legal for tv inspectors to use?
Can these devices actually tell that you are watching tv stations, or can they just tell that a device that may be a television is in operation?
Can they pinpoint a signal to an individual house, or might they not just be picking up a signal from a tv from an attached house next door?

Can they access sky or upc information to see if you have a subscription in your name for your address?

Tv License in my house is always paid btw, I just find this thread interesting. Particularly the bits where people are saying that tv inspectors have no legal rights really to check your home. Does this not mean automatic fine, and then court summons?

If you insist in court that you don't have a tv, and nobody has a right to search your home for a tv, then how do so many people get huge fines? Do they all just admit that they own a tv and didn't pay, or have inspectors or guards brought evidence from sky/upc, or handheld signal detectors to court, that have caused these outcomes?

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly · 08-09-2011 10:03AM

Once upon a time (last year) an Inspector called at my flat and asked if I had a licence. I said no and he left. I really didn't have a TV as I had become bored of the whole thing, but he didn't ask whether I had one or not and I (probably stupidly) chose not to proffer this information.

I then received a warning letter. I replied by email saying I didn't have a TV. They responded and said that they believed I did.

Next I received a court summons. I was prepared to go, but of course the summons date fell during my already booked holiday to Portugal. I went to the TV Office on O'Connell St. and asked if they could do anything. The (very helpful) employee told me to buy a licence, pay the arrears and the summons would be withdrawn. I did this as I didn't want an immediate fine for failure to show up in court.

I went to Portugal and had a splendid time.

The day after I returned home I drove to Powercity and bought a monstrous TV. I have to say it's great, so thanks to An Post for re-introducing me to the wonderful world of TV. Although I saw a little bit of 'Geordie Shore' recently - how vile.

drunkymonkey · 08-09-2011 11:25AM

Little Acorn wrote: »

Can they access sky or upc information to see if you have a subscription in your name for your address?

I'd like to know this too!

mikom · 08-09-2011 11:32AM

gbee wrote: »

As for people thinking they pull the wool over the inspector's eyes by hiding TV or antenna, they have RFDF equipment ~ remember those old Vans with the cone on top?

Well these were direction finders and RF Analysers ~ today they are hand held and and record an RF signature of your house or block of flats ~ so the inspector does not in fact need to enter your property to know what electronics you've got let alone the big, big BIG TV signature ~ even when OFF ~ it take a few weeks for the capacitors to die down and go silent.

RFDF equipment, Hmmm.
The old detector van story, but of course nowadays you will be told they have got so advanced that the detectors are so small as to be handheld by the inspectors.

Lets think about this.....

Never has "dectector van" evidence been used to apply for a warrant.
If anybody knows of this then please pipe up.

Also I believe the Gardai can only enter a property if they believe that an arrestable offence is being commited in there.
Not having a TV licence is not an arrestable offence.
The non-payment of a fine handed down by a court for not having a licence is an arrestable offence, but that's a long ways down the line.

Never in court has "dectector van" evidence been used to prosecute people.
If anybody knows of this then please pipe up.

I am of the understanding that if you are up in court for not having a TV licence that your defence MUST have full access to documentation of electronic equipment used to gather evidence (so that a technical person can challenge whether the equipment it is working correctly).
It must be admissible in court.
So where is this evidence.
If anybody knows about this then please pipe up.

How does the equipment detect a plasma/lcd without an analogue tuner.
How does the equipment detect a computer with a tv card.

The TV licence inspectors thrive on intimidation, scaremongering and disinformation.
Don't buy into their lies, don't let them in, don't sign anything, and don't admit you are who you are.
Fight fire with fire.

paddyandy · 08-09-2011 01:42PM

When the TV came to Ireland it was an Invasion without musket dungeon, fire or sword.

120_Minutes · 08-09-2011 02:37PM

Ok from what I know, if you have any of the following you need a licence:

A working tv, a non working tv, a sky box, a radio, a tuner card equipped pc.

If you don't have the above but have and ariel/dish you don't need a licence.

Detector vans and their ilk are a MYTH. The only way they can find our if you have a tv is if you tell them, they see it through the window or you let them in to see it.

They cannot get your details from sky/UPC as that breeches the data protection act
You are not obliged to let them in
You are not obliged to give your name

If you answer the door to them and the ask, simply reply verbatim "I have no need for a tv licence" whatever he asks, just repeat it.

It is a money making SCAM and nothing more.

Dyr · 08-09-2011 03:18PM

120_Minutes wrote: »

If you answer the door to them and the ask, simply reply verbatim "I have no need for a tv licence" whatever he asks, just repeat it.

It is a money making SCAM and nothing more.

"I have a dog license and a gun license, so would you like me to show you my dogs or my gun? "

emanresu · 08-09-2011 03:47PM

120_Minutes wrote: »

Ok from what I know, if you have any of the following you need a licence:

A working tv, a non working tv, a sky box, a radio, a tuner card equipped pc.

If you don't have the above but have and ariel/dish you don't need a licence.

Detector vans and their ilk are a MYTH. The only way they can find our if you have a tv is if you tell them, they see it through the window or you let them in to see it.

They cannot get your details from sky/UPC as that breeches the data protection act
You are not obliged to let them in
You are not obliged to give your name

If you answer the door to them and the ask, simply reply verbatim "I have no need for a tv licence" whatever he asks, just repeat it.

It is a money making SCAM and nothing more.

You do not need a licence for a radio.

Poor Uncle Tom · 08-09-2011 04:21PM

paddyandy wrote: »

When the TV came to Ireland it was an Invasion without musket dungeon, fire or sword.

TV = Cromwell without the gear.....:p

Rabidlamb · 08-09-2011 04:29PM

I've said this before & I'll say it again around here.

If they ask say your name is Joe O'Toole or Mary McCann or whatever you feel like.
Poor Joe or Mary get warnings, draft summons, final warning, official summons then nothing.
6 months later An Post guy call around again, "sorry, just moved in, the name's Marcus Hennessy".
Rinse lather & repeat.

Mike 1972 · 09-09-2011 10:03AM

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly wrote: »

Next I received a court summons. I was prepared to go, but of course the summons date fell during my already booked holiday to Portugal. I went to the TV Office on O'Connell St. and asked if they could do anything. The (very helpful) employee told me to buy a licence, pay the arrears and the summons would be withdrawn.

So you were the victim of a protection racket yet are grateful to the perputrators

mikom wrote: »

Never has "dectector van" evidence been used to apply for a warrant. .

It has been used when the subject of the investigation was a pirate radio station (mind you there was at least one incidence in Ireland of a house being wrongly raided over this)

However Irish TV licence inspectors dont have detection equipment.

real stig wrote: »

Whats going to happen when tv is saorview, no need for an ariel on your house

The vast majority of Saorview viewers will need a roof/loft aerial for reliable reception.

paddyandy wrote: »

Surely it seems a given natural right that everything in your home is your lawful possession

Including my guns, rocket launcher and twenty kilos of crack :eek:

120_Minutes · 09-09-2011 10:33AM

Mike 1972 wrote: »

The vast majority of Saorview viewers will need a roof/loft aerial for reliable reception.

go the loft route, esp if you have no other antennae such as a dish, the reception should be just as good, and the licence guy will be none the wiser.

corcaigh07 · 09-09-2011 10:38AM

looks like the way to go is get a telly but dont get sky/satellite or Terrestial. that way, they have no way of proving its not a monitor. Just go online for everything and use an xbox/ps3 for gaming, DVDs, etc

120_Minutes · 09-09-2011 10:58AM

corcaigh07 wrote: »

looks like the way to go is get a telly but dont get sky/satellite or Terrestial. that way, they have no way of proving its not a monitor. Just go online for everything and use an xbox/ps3 for gaming, DVDs, etc

the only way they can prove its not a monitor is if they're allowed to inspect it. even a tv with the tuner removed isnt good enough as they claim it could be "made good" again to recieve transmissions. it would have to be made without a tuner for them to be happy.

the "tuning apperatus" is the key phrase here, wheather its in a tv, sky box, set top box or pc. thats what the licence is based on, if you dont have one, you dont need a licence.

mikom · 09-09-2011 11:26AM

Mike 1972 wrote: »

It has been used when the subject of the investigation was a pirate radio station (mind you there was at least one incidence in Ireland of a house being wrongly raided over this)

However Irish TV licence inspectors dont have detection equipment.

Thanks for that info Mike.
Readers please note that TV viewers have nothing to worry about when it comes to detector vans.
The money that could have been used to develop and deploy them has instead been used to clothe Ryan Tubridy and his house band for the past few seasons.

emanresu · 09-09-2011 11:37AM

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly wrote: »

Once upon a time (last year) an Inspector called at my flat and asked if I had a licence. I said no and he left. I really didn't have a TV as I had become bored of the whole thing, but he didn't ask whether I had one or not and I (probably stupidly) chose not to proffer this information.

I then received a warning letter. I replied by email saying I didn't have a TV. They responded and said that they believed I did.

Next I received a court summons. I was prepared to go, but of course the summons date fell during my already booked holiday to Portugal. I went to the TV Office on O'Connell St. and asked if they could do anything. The (very helpful) employee told me to buy a licence, pay the arrears and the summons would be withdrawn. I did this as I didn't want an immediate fine for failure to show up in court.

I went to Portugal and had a splendid time.

The day after I returned home I drove to Powercity and bought a monstrous TV. I have to say it's great, so thanks to An Post for re-introducing me to the wonderful world of TV. Although I saw a little bit of 'Geordie Shore' recently - how vile.

Instead of contacting the TV Licence office, you should have contacted the Court Office and explained about your previously booked holiday. The case would be called on the original date, but the judge would see your note explaining your genuine reason for abscence, and most likely he would adjourn the case.
Then when you returned from holiday, it would be up to you to contact the court to find out the adjourned date, as you only receive a notice for the first time.
Then you would have had your chance to say truthfully in court that you didn't have a television set.

But on the other hand, depending on work and commitments, the hassle of taking a day off to go to court might not have been worth it.

paddyandy · 09-09-2011 01:13PM

Poor Uncle Tom wrote: »

TV = Cromwell without the gear.....:p

The "Gear" arrived later!

starlit · 09-09-2011 03:21PM

If the previous occupant had a tv and a tv licence due before you moved in then you have to pay!? They obviously didn't renew their own tv licence if they moved somewhere else or didn't change the address or something.

120_Minutes · 09-09-2011 03:35PM

doovdela wrote: »

If the previous occupant had a tv and a tv licence due before you moved in then you have to pay!? They obviously didn't renew their own tv licence if they moved somewhere else or didn't change the address or something.

as far as i know, their database links the licence to the address, so if your previous occupant had a valid licence and moved out, telling them he had changed address, that address would be flagged for checking ASAP. if he did not tell them, then that address wont be flagged till the licence expires. so in effect, you could live licence free until then, as they think the address has a valid licence.

Tv licence - i dont own a tv..

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