TV License Even If You Don’t Own a TV
I noticed as I was renewing my TV license that it states you need to buy one to watch TV in any form, whether through a television, mobile phone or computer. Now there must come a point where someone who uses their PC to watch TV but never watches any net versions of terrestrial channels will challenge this, which will be an interesting debate but no doubt the TV licensing people (ie the government) will have it all covered in the small print.
June 18th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
The current legislation identifies the act of receiving a live television transmission, but does not define the equipment used to receive it.
This is why you need a licence to watch any kind of live transmission – irrespective of the device you use to do so (a TV, computer, mobile phone, etc).
However you do not need a licence to “watch TV in any form”, as a licence is only required for live transmission. Watching a catch-up service such as iPlayer or 4oD does not require a licence, and neither does owning a television set (you are perfectly free to own a TV and use it for video games or DVDs without requiring a licence).