Please do not write below the line

> A Licensing officer may call at your property not to collect the letters but to check that you are not watching a TV.

Just the thought of this is funny. What kind of uniforms do TV Officers wear? Do they get to carry a weapon? What happens if they find you watching a TV?

Amazing.

They wear the same uniforms that police detectives usually wear.

They wear a shirt and tie. No weapon. You don't have to answer the door to them. You don't have to let them in. However they are generally lieing scumbags who suggest that they are allowed in.

If they catch you watching TV they will report you for a £1000 fine and a criminal record. Failing to pay it will land you in prison.

I spent years without a license, you don't need one for YouTube and Netflix. I unplugged the aerial wire. You do need it for any live TV or BBC catch up TV. I got visited once during that time and he kept asking to come in, I kept telling him I didn't need to let him. He kept asking what I watch on TV, I told him politely, that was none of his concern.

If they suspect you are harboring an illegal TV then they will come back with a warrant and the police!

You can be sent to jail if you do not have a licence, although it is rare

This is such a broken and dystopian situation. The UK is such a nanny state.

We had those in Austria (they changed it so everybody is forced to pay for that now...). They basically have no rights themselves, but they pretended to do and even try to force you to allow them to enter so they can check that you have no TV receiver (including the built in ones in the TV) and say that they will come with the police and a search warrant if you deny them. It doesn't even matter if you have no antenna or no coax cable.

It's a horrible situation which I am convinced preys on the vulnerable.

We've been sent letters on an almost monthly basis claiming that an officer is "scheduled" to make a visit, that we have a "ten day window" to respond before they take action, etc... . Nothing ever happens and no one ever visits.

I know that you don't have to let the enforcement folk in, and if they turn up I'll politely ask to see their search warrant or for them to mind their own business. But lots of people don't know this and are conditioned to be passive. Prosecutions include the mentally vulnerable and people whose finances are handled by the council. There are thousands every year. Three quarters of the prosecutions are against women, and it makes up more than a quarter of prosecutions against women.

Sounds like a waste of public resources. Are you supposed to pay if you watch live TV over streaming services instead of using an antenna?

I find the thought that government officials would routinely carry weapons is massively more dystopian than anything the BBC can come up with.