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Re:TV detector vans once prowled the streets of England by secondcoming on Monday January 18, 2021 @04:37PM (#25826947)
The UK only requires you to have a TV licence if you watch BBC iPlayer, or watch any live TV / stream, even if that content is not produced by the BBC. Also, recording something live in order to watch it later requires a TV licence.

So, if you watch something live on Amazon Prime or YouTube, you need a TV licence. I don't know if the BBC define what 'live' actually means, there's always a delay.

I have a TV but don't have a TV licence. I don't own an aerial cable and it's been factory reset to detune all the channels (I used live in a house that had a TV licence). I use it with a Chromecast.

I have one of the 'threatening letters' next to me right now. They're all addressed to 'The Legal Occupier'. That's not my name. They can go **** themselves.

Live TV is awful.

https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/faqs/FAQ95

Re:TV detector vans once prowled the streets of England by midasuni on Tuesday January 19, 2021 @03:59AM (#25831352)
Live is something as broadcast by a U.K. licensed broadcaster. YouTube lives wouldn’t count for example, nor do zooms.
Re:TV detector vans once prowled the streets of England by ardourdev on Tuesday January 19, 2021 @04:41AM (#25831629)
Unfortunately that is incorrect. You need a TV license even if you only watch foreign broadcasts: https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/faqs/FAQ16
Re:TV detector vans once prowled the streets of England by midasuni on Tuesday January 19, 2021 @04:06PM (#25838894)
Commmunications act 2003 sec 368 specifies it applies to television programmes

A Tim Dodd livestream of a spacex launch, or Potato McWhisky live-streaming a civ6 session is not a television programme.

(If they were they would be subject to various ofcom rules)