For a while you could use a VPN to make it look like you were in the UK. They seem to have found some ways to crack down on this a bit recently.

It's as if they _want_ us to BitTorrent Great British Bake-Off.

Using a VPN still works fine for me on all my devices (iPhone, various computers, streaming boxes etc) - as a UK expat iPlayer via VPN is a critical lifeline to home.

Things are probably going to get trickier in this regard shortly though once user accounts are made mandatory. Despite the BBC's claims, I wouldn't be surprised if this is step one in a plan to ensure all viewers have paid the UK TV Licence fee, especially following the recent closing of the loophole that allowed you to legally view iPlayer content in the UK without a TV licence if you didn't have a physical TV set.

(For those not familiar, UK residents are typically required to pay 147 quid or so a year if they own a TV or access the iPlayer service, which contributes to funding the BBC. Hilariously there is still a discount if you only have a black and white TV...).

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/may/11/iplayer-catchu...

The law also covers any type of live TV incl online. So watching live US TV in the UK would also be criminally illegal without a TV license

For those interested in how some of this money is spent on salaries see http://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/insidethebbc/managementstru...

http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/news/a833482/bbc-stars-salaries...

Discount? I thought you didn't need one at all if you were using a B&W TV?

A black and white TV Licence costs £49.50 (about a third of the price of the standard licence), according to the TV Licensing website:

http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/for-your-...

Geographical restrictions are the worst. They want more money and advertisers aren't paying international broadcast rates. have you tried one of those browser add on vpn tunnels. theyre often dodgy as fuck but get the job done.

In this case, it's a legal requirement on the BBC. Their funding for iPlayer comes directly from the license fee that UK live-TV watchers legally have to pay annually. They do re-sell their content around the world and even have a commercial branch, BBC Worldwide, which creates content for the US and other markets, and also allows them to show adverts in those markets (which they can't do in the UK, again due to the license fee).

I guess they don't put everything on BBC Worldwide due to costs (getting permission from rights holders etc.) and instead prioritise those things they think are likely to sell.

BBC World used to be awesome. I used to look forward to staying in a hotel that had it to catch up on some British shows that I normally don't see. However nowadays it seems to be mostly Star Trek reruns. (?)

is it not the same as this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RnuIiaLxCs

well, it looks like they're similar

I see torrents on Skytorrents.in.