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A comment on TV detector vans once prowled the streets of England. Parent comment

Re:TV detector vans once prowled the streets of England by gambiting on Tuesday January 19, 2021 @09:54AM (#25833937)
Yep, it technically does. If there is a live channel on Youtube showing say a football match, then yes, technically you have to pay a TV licence for watching it, since the same match is broadcast on a TV channel.

I don't think the policy is that ridiculous, it's just that it's one of these where certain edge cases like this one can be safely ignored. You will be tracked and found if you use the BBC iPlayer without having paid the licence, you will not be found out for watching some random live youtube channel. It's an imperfect rule for a complex world.

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Re:TV detector vans once prowled the streets of England by MaxBarraclough on Tuesday January 19, 2021 @12:41PM (#25836149)
> If there is a live channel on Youtube showing say a football match, then yes, technically you have to pay a TV licence for watching it

Sky offer a streaming service in the UK called NowTV which includes live TV streaming of their channels, as well as Netflix-style on-demand streaming from their library. They're very upfront that a TV licence is needed if you wish you watch their live channels over NowTV, [0] but one is not required for on-demand streaming.

[0] https://help.nowtv.com/article/do-i-need-a-tv-licence-to-wat...

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