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Brits (still) can't stream BBC iPlayer abroad
While the BBC charges £150 a year for a TV licence fee in the UK, the corporation won't offer streaming access to its iPlayer in mainland Europe. The paid-for competition, like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, now follow the EU's digital media portability rules which came into play over the weekend. These let residents watch digital media services in other EU member states as if they were in their home country.
Amazon UK's new video options will require a TV licence
Live TV viewers in the UK are supposed to pay a fee that supports services and content from the BBC. Lately, despite changes that closed the "iPlayer loophole," that still doesn't apply to people who only watch streaming video on-demand, so some cord-cutters can avoid the charge. However, the TV Licensing agency is reminding people that as Amazon UK rolls out its new Channel add-ons with live TV, it means that viewers are again responsible for paying the fee. Amazon's packages include channels like Eurosport, ITV Hub+ and Discovery, so as TV Licensing spokesperson Jason Hill explains "If you watch or record live TV, either through your TV or live online through a website, then you need to be covered by a TV Licence...Around 94 per cent of people are correctly licensed so are already covered to watch live TV online." Currently, an annual colour TV Licence costs £147.
iPlayer will soon require a BBC account
The majority of Brits will soon need a BBC account in order to watch iPlayer, listen to iPlayer Radio and use some of the broadcaster's other services. The BBC has said that registration will move from optional to mandatory within the next few weeks. No formal date has been set because the BBC wants to ensure as many people as possible have been given the opportunity to sign up before it flips the switch, and it's started warning users of the impending change online and within its various apps. The BBC says it's introducing mandatory logins to improve its services and user personalisation, but there's also a secondary motivation: Making sure you're paying your TV licence.
BBC iPlayer will require an account starting 'early 2017'
Starting "early" next year, Brits will need a BBC account in order to access iPlayer. The broadcaster says the move is designed to make its services more "tailored" and "personalised," presumably through better curation and recommendations. The BBC already offers an account system, called BBC iD, which comes with a few different benefits such as "favourites" in iPlayer, cross-device pause and resume, and the personalised BBC+ app. A "new sign-in system," said to be more robust and secure, will be launching later this week ahead of the new, mandatory requirement in 2017.
BBC iPlayer now requires a TV licence following loophole closure
It's been a long time coming, but from today all iPlayer viewers now need to own a TV licence to watch the BBC content. New rules have closed the so-called "iPlayer loophole," which had previously allowed users to get out of paying if they only watched catch-up content. The BBC is in the process of updating the iPlayer website to display a message that will warn users that they must have a licence, similar to the one used on live BBC streams.
BBC iPlayer will require a TV licence from September
For years, people have used BBC iPlayer as a way to avoid the licence fee. If you watched everything on-demand, rather than tuning in live, it meant you didn't have to pay the age-old subscription. The British government has wanted to close this so-called "iPlayer loophole" for some time and, finally, their wish is being granted. From September 1st, you'll need a licence fee for anything TV-related by the BBC. It doesn't matter which device you use -- smartphone, PC or set-top box -- everything will count.
Courts told to look down on licence dodgers with pay-TV subscriptions
If all goes to plan, the new BBC Charter will close the "iPlayer loophole" from January next year. That would mean anyone watching the broadcaster's content would require a TV licence, regardless of how they're accessing it -- more money for the BBC and, if you want to be cynical about it, more dodgers to catch. Coincidentally, the Sentencing Council has today proposed new sentencing guidelines for Magistrates' courts, one of which covers "TV licence payment evasion." In it, the courts are told to consider additional subscription television services a factor that increases offender culpability. Basically, don't pretend you can't pay the licence fee when you've got a Sky Q box under your TV, and don't try to claim you missed all the BBC channels listed on your TiVo EPG.