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Although the BBC has no ads for third parties the programming is full of interruptions due to self promotion.
I don't need to watch bloody Eastenders- I can find out what is happening through their ads.
I agree that it's better than suffering a commercial channel, but given the revenue channels available to the BBC I do question whether it is right and even ethical to have the TV licence fee payed to the BEEB these days.
As for the people out and about checking whether you have a licence- tell them to get lost.
Have you ever heard US ads which are every 5 minutes, some of which have some guy screaming at you to buy some miracle product for only $19.95!
What always stumped me was that I have to pay a tv license but can watch BBC, ITV and channel 4 all live on the iPad perfectly legally through their apps without paying a penny!
Even with apps, if you are watching it as it is broadcast you need a license. If you are watching foriegn tv live you need a license. Thats why the law sucks.
TV licence detector vans have never been used to back up a single conviction for not holding a licence...ever...not once. They are a myth designed to scare you.
They use the database of those who do have a licence to harass those who don't have one...sending threatening letters to people who choose not to have a TV.
It is a scam and scandal whose days are numbered. 10% of cases clogging up magistrates courts relate to the BBC tax, criminalising large numbers of people for not paying a utility bill.
You tend to get towed in the US rather than clamped - so rather than finding you can't drive home until you pay someone off, you have to work out if your car has either been stolen or towed by one of several companies.
The cops and the towing companies are in cahoots over here. The cops got into trouble in my city for driving around in people's cars that were supposed to be in the impound lot.
Clamping is all over the world. My experience is the UK (specifically London area) can get kind of aggressive about it. For example, someone (well, two people) tried putting a clamp around my co-worker's car when we were simply waiting to pick up someone outside their flat. We were in the car, the car was running, and we just pulled up and stopped when we saw the two, my friend started driving away slowly yelling at them and we just did circles until the other guy came out.
The use of clamps seems more prevalent than just a parking ticket.
Along with clamps, they will tow your car if you do not pay tax on it, and it is almost immediately, like within a week. As a note, I never had issues myself with clamps or tax.
As for the TV tax, I never paid it, refused to, completely absurd tax. I never watched TV nor cared to watch it. My TV was connected to a DVD player and that is it. I lived in a secure building, the tax people would need a key to get in to get to my flat, they simple just buzzed the door every now and then and left.
Have you ever heard US ads which are every 5 minutes, some of which have some guy screaming at you to buy some miracle product for only $19.95!
That dude died awhile ago...
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