Cookies, that's exactly right. We own a 50" TV but use it for DVDs and video games, and the computer is hooked up to it too so we can watch iplayer etc on the big screen. But, we never watch live TV. We have informed TV licencing that we have not tuned the TV in to any stations and do not use it for live broadcasts and they have left us alone.

   Also you do not need a TV Licence if you owe a TV as long as you do not watch live TV. You can owe as many TVs, DVD players, computers and watch DVDs, videos, catch-up TV etc as you like without needing a TV licence as long as you do not watch live TV. The best way to avoid a fine is to fully inform TV Licensing want you are doing and take any steps they recommend you take before stopping your licence.

   I don't have a TV licence, but we're not fussed about most of the rubbish on TV and anything we do want to watch we'll use iplayer or other services that don't show live broadcasts.

This information has been available for a long time - I moved out from my parents' house over 5 years ago and looked into whether we'd need a TV licence then for watching online.

   Thanks Mavdo, if I ever decide to watch online I will simply use one of the VERY many proxy services to anonymise then.

   Whitespirit - I'm afraid they can *very* easily track you - your IP address will be logged with the provider of the stream (eg BBC) as you watch the live broadcast. As this is a crime, the RIPA legislation (regulatory and investigatory powers act) allows your account and address details to be released in order to provide a conviction.

If you watch it indirectly (eg via a rebroadcast) where your IP address went to the rebroadcaster and not to the BBC, they would rather catch the people who host that site rather than you as rebroadcasting is also illegal without permission (which they probably wouldn't give anyway).

It really isn't that much trouble to prove your guilt and secure a conviction. In fact, it is easier than catching you watching telly because your computer logs proof of you watching the service, and they can then convict you whenever they like, even months after the offence. A detector van relies on the fact that you are watching telly at the time they pass to prove you were watching. They could then secure a warrant to search your premises for the device used, and convict you even if it was off at the time of the search.

You need a license if you have the capability to receive live broadcasts (handheld TVs are excluded). If you have a computer that can receive pictures through an ariel, you need a license. Now TV is also brodcast through the internet, in theory, you need a license just to have a computer with broadband, although I think a conviction would only proceed if they could prove you were watching it, which is relatively easy as I said.

No license is required for radio. Imagine how many people would be breaking the law just by driving a car! Your TV license covers you for watching TV outside your home (eg a caravan), but ONLY if no one is also watching the TV in your house at the same time. If you needed a license for your radio, the same rule would apply, and include your car. But you don't - BBC radio is paid for through your TV license.

   There is no longer a radio licence and as far as I am aware you do not need a licence to listen to the radio.

And when the tv inspectors came around recently and I showed them I had no aerial they didn't mention anything about listening to the radio.

   Ah thanks for info WS.... my mistake, i was sure i had read it somewhere.

what about online radio stations being broadcast live?

   No CL, it is specifically and ONLY the watching or recording of programmes as they are broadcast that requires a licence. Watching iplayer does not.

There is a grey area concerning mirrored broadcasts that introduce a delay in retransmission. For example if you watch a feed from a mirror site that records the original feed and replays it a short time later.

   This article is a bit misleading.... I was under the impression that even if you watched programmes after they had been broadcast, i.e. iplayer, you still required a tv licence?

   But how can they track you? The only way they would be able to would be to obtain your surfing history from your isp. If they REALLY want to go through that to try to catch me should I ever watch live TV online then they are welcome.