By Jo Best, 3 March 2005 16:05
NEWS The TV licence fee could eventually be axed and replaced by a tax on personal computers, according to a new report from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
In announcing the findings of the Whitehall's review of the BBC's Charter, Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell told ministers that the government was content with the traditional licence - but only in the short term.
"Although not perfect, we believe it remains the fairest way to fund the BBC so it will continue throughout the next Charter. In the coming months, we will have to decide on the right level for the fee after 2007 - but beyond that, we have to take account of the rapid advance in technology and media consumption," she said.
"Over the next charter period we expect the BBC to play a substantial part in developing a digital Britain," the Culture Secretary told the Commons.
If alternative funding models get the go ahead, one idea being mooted by the government is a fee payable for each PC purchased.
The green paper on the Charter review, published yesterday, suggests that TV piracy may force the BBC into changing how the licence fee is collected.
"In future, if a large number of people are downloading audio-visual content from the internet, and watching it on their computers or mobile phones, rather than using traditional TV and radio services, it may be difficult to collect and enforce a licence fee based on television ownership."
The green paper continues: "In that world, different funding models may have to be considered. If the licence fee was to be retained, the means of collecting it might have to be changed - so that it because, for example, either a compulsory levy on all households or even on ownership of PCs as well as TVs."
Much of what the government is predicting, however, is already a reality. The UK now accounts for one-fifth of global piracy of television, a recent report found, while O2 is trialling video-over-mobile and several operators are already investing in HSDPA technology, which will facilitate TV-style broadcasts to mobiles.
The BBC, which has recently been forced to prune its web presence, declined to comment on the possibility, saying the issue of funding is solely down to the government.
Nevertheless, the change could prove a lucrative one for the BBC. Currently, there are 24.5 million TV licences in force, according to the TV licensing authority. However, almost nine million PCs were sold in the course of 2004 in the UK, according to analyst house Gartner, and growth rates are rising fast, with a year-on-year increase of nearly 15 per cent.
Comments
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1. anonymous
What about people who build their PCs?
2. anonymous
So the UK citizens get stung again! If the BBC want to continue funding their ever increasing number of so-so channels, get the people who want to watch to pay. Ever heard of Pay-Per-View BBC? Daft suggestion. They would never get enough revenue to film a world-shaped hot air balloon or change their logos. I personally would be quite happy to live my life without the BBC.
3. John Sniadowski
First we have the Microsoft Tax, where it is very difficult to buy a PC that is not pre-loaded with some version of Microsoft or other. Now we have the proposed BBC PC tax. So what happens in house holds like mine where we have lots of Linux powered PCs / machines which we use for various purposes that have nothing to do with any form of media viewing? These are built from components or recycled parts from older machines that have hit the bit bucket but still have good memory, disk processor or whatever. Anyway what constitutes a PC? Some of my stuff may look like a PC behave like a PC, even smell like a PC but a PC it is not.
I happen to think that the current BBC license fee is great value for money given the quality of programme output –Vs- what we see on some of the more expensive Satellite channels, thus I think the BBC has to be preserved come what may, but a PC tax - what a load of phooey!
4. jock
l tell you something if they think l am paying for useing my pc ,they have another thing coming , l allready throw money to the bbc for that crap they show , waste of my money. dont even watch television kids watch cartoon network . if there was a way to stop getting bbc , l would like to get it removed.
then i might save a bit,
5. anonymous
Incredible... The BBC accounts for as little as 3% of available media content in the home and we are still forced to pay the current scheme. This new tax is quite unfair, as not everyone still has a PC in thier home, and it will do very little to encourage people who are on low incomes to fork out that little bit extra just for a PC.
Seems to me that this is yet another lame way of making money. About time they just stuck adverts in and were funded that way, ITV seem to have no problems doing that.
6. Lesley Grantham
Would this also affect machines that are home built? At what stage could it be charged - Buying a new case? CPU? Or just on each component?
This is ridiculous, I refuse to buy a TV license, and I do not watch the TV, I watch DVDs on a PC, so I would be charged? Whereas someone who doesn't have a PC but watches garbage like Eastenders every night gets it for nothing? What a crock of ...
7. anonymous
The licence fee should have gone years ago. Adverts on the BBC... fine by me. And to put a tax on PCs is outragous!
8. Angus
It really does suprise me how out of touch these people are. Where do they come up with these ideas?
Ok we all love old autie, but like in real life, our old auntie has to die. We live in a world of the digital TV, we can watch any mundane channel we wish from any country in the world we choose.
The licence fee is old and should of been scrapped along with the beeb in its current form, it was once a great british commodity, but like all great british things, we always mess it up eventually.
Since BBC has gone out to compete against all the other media channels, it has lost its grasp on the industry.
And now this!! PC tax.. PLEASE!!!
This sort of talk just goes to show how out of touch with the society at large they are.
From my mouth to the BBC.. Get a F****** Grip.. we have to pay extortionate prices for the software as it is some of us pay for a licence fee for a service we dont use, I only watch classic re-runs of the BBC yester-years and I have paid for them 10 times over..
So well done BBC kill the British TV industry, now move on to the PC market and kill that off too after that perhaps you could ask for a tax on my Etch-a-Sketch..
9. Mike
Absolutely shocking! I change my PC every 18-24 months and so would have to repeatedly pay this levy, whereas I change my TV only when it goes permanently wrong.
Seems grossly unfair, and how are they planning to implement this? What about system builders who often by their PCs in separate components, would they escape the PC levy if they don't purchase all the bits from one retailer.
If there is still to be some form of licence fee for the digital age then it should be a "digital user fee". Could be levied by the ISP for broadband users consuming more than 10Gb or a/v streams/month but this would have to be for licenced content. If I create a home video of my kids and their grandparents download it from my web server they should not have to pay for that.
10. anonymous
Don't we already pay tax on PC's? I believe it called VAT. Stuff em and their taxes. Their pushing their luck.
11. Richard Davies
Another load of rubbish to infuriate people. There may piracy issues so they think its okay to just blanket sweep the entire computer industry with a new tax...if they do that, myself and others would be so infuriated. I wish the government would crawl away and leave people alone...they are stupid and hinder progress.
12. Anthony Hunt
Why should we pay at all? The BBC makes precisely NOTHING that anyone watches. Downloading TV online? People can but it's nothing the BBC makes or shows! If you look online, the TV being downloaded is US sci-fi series the BBC has turned it's female-run nose up at in recent years, and TV like "Desperate Housewives" that can be seen (license free) on Channel 4.
The only worthwhile thing the BBC does with any regularity is the news, which I'll pay a subscription for if it comes to that, but the license fee and certainly a "PC Tax" I would oppose unless the BBC improves it's content markedly.
Less soaps, less fly on the turd documentaries and makeover shows. We need more real dramas (not short soaps), more films (yes, films and recent ones!) and real documentaries (nature, world events, education).
More channels = less money for each. Taxing the viewers even more won’t make it any better.
13. anonymous
Where is the logic in this? First they tell the BBC to get rid of some content (Fantasy Football etc), then the EU might restrict them even more.
Now we are told that not only will the BBC lead the digital push in Britain (only not on the web as they won't be allowed), but we will be taxed on the pcs we own.
That's great.
How are they going to enforce that? Will they charge companies for multiple PC's?
14. anonymous
confused about this. If they want to tax something physical, then why not tax new TVs?
15. anonymous
Windows Tax?
16. Alan M
When I see the word "could" in the first sentence of a news story, then I know it's not actually a news story, just speculation.
After all, an asteroid could strike Earth next week and aliens could land on the White House lawn
17. Zakala
PC Detector Vans???
A PC tax would be unworkable wouldn't it? Would they charge a levy on every IT component so they raised revenue on DIY PCs or just the tax the CPU. If it's a CPU tax then surely it would apply to your spanking new digital controlled washing machine, devices well known for receiving digital media.
Sounds like another ill-thought out attempt to avoid the inevitable - making the BBC a commercial media provider.
18. Richard Jackson
Exactly why do we need to replace the BBC licence fee 'tax' with anything? I see no reason why the BBC does anything worthy that Channel 4 doesn't, for example. Why doesn't the government do us all a favour and abolish the charter instead of replacing in with something as retrograde as a computer tax, an item we already pay VAT on?! Let's disestablish the Beeb and let it fend for itself commercially.
19. Paul Wilson
What do they want to tax next? DVD players, Phones?? In an age where everyone wants to promote the freedom of data, you will kill it off dead with a PC Tax. How do they propose to go about collecting it? what about company's with Server Farms, PC's etc. Like to see the government asking businesses for a tax for every pc they own. What about the people who have a pc, do not have a tv card in their pc, do not connect to the internet?? As usual, another well thought out idea on how to stiff the common man and cause mayhem and distrust. A PC tax will set the UK back 20 years.
20. Neil Postlethwaite
Digital Upgrade Costs !!
The real scandal of much of the talk about the future of the BBC, licence fee etc. is the (deliberate?) masking of the costs of mandatory digital TV upgrades looking forward to 2007/8 onwards. The Sunday Times did some fag packet calculations and the rough cost per household was £920.
This consisted of multiple set top boxes required, extra cabling/SCART cables, Upgrades to receiving roof aerials (must be digital wideband capable). The UK aerial install association is expecting a bonanza!!
Buy a van and a ladder set !! All analogue TV PC cards and handheld portable TV's will be nothing but landfill.
All this over and above the fact your Video will be next to useless and will need junked for a PVR (hard disc personal video recorder). You won't be able to watch one programme and record another - try explaining that to anyone over the age of 50!!
From a personal point of view, Sky + hardware is great and is the future.
People are being sold a red herring as the costs of an un-wanted and un-necessary switch off of analogue TV.
Government driven. Extra capacity made available will be quickly used up by forthcoming HDTV are more bandwidth is required per channel. Only reason I can see is the government can resell it on and thinks it is getting another 3G licence bonanza.
21. James George
I think using the excuse of piracy as one of the main reasons for this tax is absolutly rubbish and I will tell you why. Over the years I have bought software from auction sites such as ebay and qxl and on some occasions have found them to be pirate or the new name, backup copies. Now I have reported this to the said auction site an all you get is an email stating that you must report it to their anti piracy site but you get no response so I report it to the software publisher who in turn says " we take piracy very seriously so please report is to our anti piracy email address still no response and still the are selling on these auction sites. One guy has been selling Microsoft Windows XP in various formats for £10.00 on QXL for months and they have neither stopped it or answered my emails apart fromm to confirm that I must mail their anti piracy site but get no reply. Microsoft are just as bad when reporting piracy and they dont even acnowlege your effort to save them and in turn you money. At the end of the day if a dozen people a day are reporting this type of piracy and nothing is getting done then no wonder everyone is doing it. An incentive or free gift for every time someone reports a genuine pirate or geeky kid copying software in his bedroom for extra pocket money and selling it on auction sites might be an good idea but everyone has to start stopping this from the big boys to the little kids.
22. Paul Tansom
OK, so while Brussels are looking to cut the BBC internet services the UK government is looking to use the BBC internet services to justify a PC license, or TAX. You can't have it both ways or we'll end up with a TAX for services we are no longer receiving!
Anyway, we already pay a PC TAX to Microsoft. How many people buy a PC without Windows installed, even if they already have a copy they are quite happy with? If I didn't build my own systems I'd be forced into purchasing a copy of Windows I won't be using because I'll be removing it to put Linux on (far more reliable, secure and productive).
23. Noel Cosgrave
Any attempt to secure future funding for the BBC by extorting yet more money from the taxpayer should be rigorously contested. It is a cynical move that fails to recognise that PC ownership does not equate with use of the BBC services, or any indeed any online digital media.
Those who possess and use their PCs exclusively for work purposes will be required, through such a tax, to fund the output of the BBC. Having to do so while not making use of the service is bad enough, but having to fund a BBC which, in my opinion, has been rabidly chasing the 'lowest common denominator' market and forsaking its commitment to be a public service broadcaster is even harder to stomach.
24. Ken Adams
"Although not perfect, we believe it remains the fairest way to fund the BBC so it will continue throughout the next Charter."
...What about the fairest way to fund the BBC to the satisfaction of the public? The British are forced to pay for services they themselves may not use. The Web services can be accessed by the entire world wide on-line community, which means so can the radio stations. The News facilities likewise. So why are just the British Public paying for it? Either via TV Licence or PC Licence? Shouldn't the BBC then have an obligation not to allow free loading non-licence payers access to what we pay for? If they can't police access to those who pay, they shouldn't provide the service.
"Although not perfect, we believe it remains the fairest way to fund the BBC so it will continue throughout the next Charter."
...What about the fairest way to fund the BBC to the satisfaction of the public?!!! The British are forced to pay for services they themselves may not use. The Web services can be accessed by the entire world wide on-line community, which means so can the radio stations. The News facilities likewise. So why are just the British Public paying for it? Either via TV Licence or PC Licence? Shouldn't the BBC then have an obligation not to allow free loading non-licence payers access to what we pay for? If they can't police access to those who pay, they shouldn't provide the service.
Taxing PC's is just an extension to the ludicrous funding model. The only licence it represents is a licence for the government to print money.
I agree that some of their services (and not all) are of satisfactory quality, but I disagree that these are provided through a funding model introduced before TV's were even commonplace and only the BBC channels existed.
PC's can access data from all over the world, so why should the owner of a PC in Britain be paying for a particular Web service that's available to everyone? The use of the phrase 'not perfect' is a vast understatement. Since when has Government bullying tactics been 'not perfect' ?
25. Karen Challinor
Everyone with a PC pays for this ?, I have 4 at home and none of them download tv programs, do I still have to pay for each of them ?
Does that mean people who don't have PC's don't have to pay a tv license either ?
What next ? I can but don't shop at tesco online, are they going to charge me for goods I don't purchase or use ?
It's March isn't it ... April is next month
26. anonymous
So the govenment gains a way to control the internet -at last.
You licence PC's. And you tax them.
Since only a small percentage of the TV licence fee actually goes to the BBC. Will this extra money now fund the snoop -police to monitor you PC usage and filter "inappropate material" from the "UK web" ?
27. Kerry Lunt
Whos running the country, Mr Repeat alot BBC, or the Govenment?
28. Richard Howlett
As Alan M from London stated earlier, you can largely discount for the near future any supposedly firm idea with the word "could" in it. A PC tax is likely to be completely unenforceable anyway. Oh you're wrong that aliens "could" land on the Whitehouse lawn though. An alien already has and we've got four more years of him...
29. anonymous
'Mr Government' seriously needs replaced. How many thought the Tories were hair-brained and inept and New Labour would be totally different.
John Major - Come back, all is forgiven !!
CD/DVD piracy would be cut overnight if:
1. CD/DVD's are ludicrously over priced. Reduce the price CD 's £4.99 DVD's £8.99.
2. CD's/DVD get copied as if break you are stuffed. Studio's, swap buggered discs for good ones.
BBC Licence. As per recent report, seems like most people accept the licence fee as best way of funding and do actually support it.
Whingers shut up, you are in the minority.
30. anonymous
If I have a TV. It can only be used to view TV programs. If I have a pc I can use it for a lot more. I may never use it to view online TV. Why should I be taxed on computer ownership? Also I would be subsidising the rest of the worlds access to this online content. It should be pay per view.That way if you want to see it you pay.
31. Mikal Dunne
This shows teh continued high level of ignorance within the government ad its advisors. All that is needed to prevent non-license payers from viewing such webcasts is a password entry scheme using the paid up licence number and holder's details. Besides look at all the businesses with PCs how will they be regulated since no doubt heavy lobbying will be undertaken to prevent their having to pay such a ludicrous tax. Has April Fool's Day come early?
32. Garry E Hunt
This is an insane suggestion. It would have a negative impact on all aspects of UK business and reduce if not eliminate any potential competitiveness. A typical Government suggestion, without any thought which would hand every other country in the worls with a cost advantage over the UK.
33. Blinkie
Media is already Taxed - In the early 80's a TAX was levied onto blank cassette tapes and blank video tapes, for this very reason of unauthorsied copying. So it made it `legal' to record from the telly or record from the Radio. Not ofcourse for resale. I do not know if the same applies to blank CD's, lets pressume it does.. then why an extra Tax on the PC. Its popular thats why, and the government boffins as ususal have now figuerd out how they can cream more money from the PC bandwagon. I do not see the goverment wanting to help my small business with a Tax on the punters, so my these corporate giants - well we know why!
34. Nebs
Just scrap the BBC TAX!
Let them have adverts like everyone else. I resent paying £130 per year for 2-3 channels and £360 for all of sky. They need to wake up realise the public is sick of being ripped off so much for so little.
35. Matt
Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't the Government get a large slice of the TV licence? Another way for them to do the British Public over? Probably....
Since having Cable (3 years) I think I've watched BBC 1 & 2 maybe three times, BBC Choice = a total waste of time, seeing as all of these other channels (ITV, 4 & E4 et al) provide good quality entertainment and they generate their revenue from advertising, maybe the Beeb should wake up, grow up and realise that it's no longer 1965, the people want what's not on offer.
It does seem to me that the Government are so intent on driving the public down, ruin our education, ruin our health and health service, ruin our transport, make all our lives a misery and then start to remove our only sources of entertainment, whilst charging us stupid money for the priveledge of being British. Great Britain, nothing great about this s***hole any more....
36. Ruth
Hang on Boys & Girls - this is a Government proposal not the BBC's. There is an Election coming up so this could be a good question to put to each of the Parties - and vote accordingly...
37. anonymous
The licence fee is inefficient; it incurs costs in collection and detection.
The BBC is (or was once?) a shop window for us and our culture. The British Council is also a representation to the world of our way of life, but it is paid out of general taxation, not some "Mickey Mouse" licencing scheme. Similarly the Arts Council does not levy a special tax on every holiday snap you take.
The BBC should be paid for from general taxation, but by some mechanism that guarantees its income and prevents it from being beholden to the government of the day.
38. Matt
Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't the Government get a large slice of the TV licence? Another way for them to do the British Public over? Probably....
Since having Cable (3 years) I think I've watched BBC 1 & 2 maybe three times, BBC Choice = a total waste of time, seeing as all of these other channels (ITV, 4 & E4 et al) provide good quality entertainment and they generate their revenue from advertising, maybe the Beeb should wake up, grow up and realise that it's no longer 1965, the people want what's not on offer.
It does seem to me that the Government are so intent on driving the public down, ruin our education, ruin our health and health service, ruin our transport, make all our lives a misery and then start to remove our only sources of entertainment, whilst charging us stupid money for the priveledge of being British. Great Britain, nothing great about this s***hole any more....
39. Brian Nesbit
This must be a joke, "it's not the 1st April already is it?", a tax on the PC. The British politicians have really gone mad this time.
40. Monopoly Killer
Generally, along with the new technology is also the possibility to encode TV stations, thusly allowing the people to decide what stations they even want by paying for their usage.
I am not saying that the BBC is a poor quality station, I am simply saying that an imposed tax is not fair or justified for non-users. Let the commercials pay the broadcasting costs as it was in the 1970s.
The same is happening in germany...
and happened in America in the 1980s (if I remember correctly)
What ever happened to the governments responsibility to inform the people by way of TV and Radio. Where is the responsibility to improve the quality of life ?
On the statistics side, how many times has the consumers paid off the equipment costs ? When does the the telephone lines and TV stations belong to the general public..., or when do the prices sink...? The prodution costs dont rise in today´s technology, they sink. So why should it cost more...?
A fat cat cant get any fatter....
Something has to give way...
and when it does the cat is normally dead....
It is time to take a stand in the overtaxing and overpricing attempts that so many consumers have to deal with on a daily basis...
Send the politicians back to school as they have missed the main idea that fair trade means exchanging an items worth for another item of the same worth. This keeps the economy balanced. You dont tip the economic scales in favor of the business experts that are paid to be over paid.
When do we get something back out of the system we put things into ?????
Imposed taxes are similiar to black holes....and lets face it, its nice that someone gets rich in this scheme of things, but enough is enough.
I dont see rebates being offered in buying TV /Radio ready PCs or laptops, from the BBC or any other TV or Radio Station. As a matter of fact, in most cases you pay more for the systems /components.
It is time that the broadcast stations appeal to the consumer, as was in the past.
They also have the responsibility to keep the market moving,
so that the question is what do they purpose to do to help the economy ?
How many jobs will this create when most of the companies have automated e-payment solutions...
Or will any new ventures in business be out-sourced..
To sum this up for all you ISO Freaks.
We know what the customer supplied product is, but where is the added value.... Is this the porno commercials that come on after 12:00 PM ????? What is the Quality Policy ?... To offer the product at over taxed prices in order to keep the marketing edge...?
It is time to kill the monopolies before the public is "weeded" out to the middle and high class snobs....
P.S. How many hackers will this tax create... ?
41. Jon H
Hmm. A Tax on PCs - Let's see..
How can you put a tax on homebuild (or small system builder) PCs? Very difficult. Unless you put an extra tax on hard drives or optical drives or maybe DVD writers? I mean, why else would you need a DVD writer if you're not pirating movies? (hides behind flame-resistant shield)
How about an extra tax on broadband? After all, you only need one TV licence for ten tellies, so pay an extra £11-ish per month for your broadband. Of course, not everyone with broadband watches live video streams (yet).
Mind you, by 2017, when the new funding scheme is supposed to be coming in, we'll all have 100 gigabit fibre to our homes, and 10Gbps WiMax3 (or 5G or something) wireless.....
Think back to where we were 12 years ago - did you expect the 'internet' as it was then (ha ha) to be what it is today? GSM was only just bubbling to the surface. 10base2 networking was 'fast'. Shall I continue?
The government (and the BBC) have got plenty of time to think of some funding options, and go through consultation etc.
STOP PANICKING!
42. Rod
We are already paying tax--VAT-- for every part we buy and companies pay tax on the profits from the parts we buy. I suggest that the main reason for TV going digital is so that they can control the revenue,like sky. A viewing card, no pay no see. No need for detector vans.
43. Trevor
Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell won't be taxing any PC's..... if we vote her and the rest of Labour out at the next General Election!
44. Harry Grove`
It 'seems' a very sensible suggestion. Wasn't the original (Home Office ?) licence "to operate a receiving device" ?
Eventually we'll only have the one screen - plasma size - for all TV, PC related, shopping, on-line ordering; either full-screen, or segmented so that everyone in the room is using some part of the display .... eventually.
45. John Beardon
So, what happens on our business network where downloading media content is forbidden by our acceptable use policy? If the government thinks that we are going to subsidise any form of public media however outdated, they can shove it!
46. Alan Wyatt
I think the prospect of a levy on PC's rather than on TV's would fail in much the same way as the poll tax failed. The device, like individual people, is too mobile and the tax too bluntly applied. If the government tries to apply a levy would there be an attempt to differentiate between corporate and private PC's? If there is, this only works at the time of a new sale because I can't imagine many companies bothering with the necessary administrative paperwork when they sold off their old PC's.
Secondly the growth curve may look good now but will soon flatten out as market saturation occurs and renewal rather than first time purchase is the driver for sales.
Any way, what's a PC? Someone will come up with a clever way round the levy by selling you the bits separately forcing you to pay the levy twice just to repair your broken PC.
Nice idea, but probably not workable.
47. Diane Wicks
nevermind what I have to pay the BBC by way of a licence fee. My area is going digital in 2006. I caanot have cable as Eurobell would not do my street (too small to be commecially viable), cannot get digital because reception is bad, will HAVE to subscribe to sky. I will have to pay if i want to watch tv 9apart from licence fee). I think it is a scandal and am going to write to my MP about it.
48. anonymous
BBC will guarantee online service!!
I suppose BBC will also troubleshoot Broadband connections for us then. If thats true, I'm game for the new PC tax, as the Broandband ISPs like VIRGIN already charge exhorbitant PREMIUM RATE support.
49. Daniel McAdam
Sounds like just the excuse I need to take my IT skills abroad. Other countries try to stem the problem of brain drain, Britain encourages it! How about paying directly with old PCs left on the door step 10 Downing Street?
50. James Green
Well do something about it then. All the polite banter is not going to stop this pathetic bill from going through. Complain and complain vigorously... your MP - Tessa Jowell (whose brainwave this was)The BBC - on message boards across the web - do it do it do it. The bigger the voice - the more chance that 'WE' can put an end to all this.
51. Barry
If the PC Tax passes, most likely any computer and any device which is capable of internet access will be taxed. Building a computer yourself? Taxed. Putting Linux on your computer? Taxed (you can access the internet on any Linux distro...from dial-up to broadband). Own an internet-capable gaming console like PS2, X-Box, or Dreamcast? Taxed. Internet-capable mobile phone? Taxed. WebTV? Taxed. Atari ST? Taxed (I've heard of people accessing the internet on STs). Atari XE/XL/400/800? Taxed (they are computers). Commodore 64/128/PET? Taxed (once again, they are computers). Commodore Amiga? Taxed (just like the ST, I've heard of people accessing the internet on Amigas).
Once again, the BBC proves they don't give a fuck about the poor people of the UK. Poor people are disproportinally targeted by the TV License Detectors and some can barely afford a used computer...if this passes, they won't be able to afford even a used computer.
If this absurd idea comes to America, I will definitely spew the most vile anti-liberal hate speech until the secret police arrest me and cart me off to some undisclosed location (thanks to the Patriot Act).
52. Anonymous
As per usual in this country, we pay all the taxes and everyone else gets the benifits. The BBC is a business and should be run as such instead of leeching of tax payers who have enough to pay. Also whilst were here, Why does the rest of the world have free access to our radio stations?
53. Barry
Do you still need a license to listen to/own a radio? I thought they ditched the radio tax.
54. anonymous
If the whole idea behind moving this tax from TVs to PCs is because of internet downloads and piracy then wouldn't it be more logical to have an internet tax? And, whilst on the subject, shouldn't the amount we pay for our internet connection already cover this, seeing how they get it for free in America? Why do the large corporations continuously seek to drain money from us for absolutely nothing!
55. unonomus
I think government stills our taxes all the time their fore i dont think we should pay them. For instent why dose the contractor have to pay 30% of their income? Its not fair at all, becouse he provides people with jobs and also hese the middle man that always gets blamed for everything!!!!!!!!!!!
56. Peter
I think that someone hasn't done their sums here. The licence fee raises ~£2.5B, which spread over 9M PCs sold per year equals the best part of £300 per PC ie more than the cost of a low-end PC at present. There would be rioting in PC World if this came about.
However, following all of the other posts on this there seems to be a huge amount of naivety around. What do people think that advertising is? Sorry guys it's a sales tax of most things that we buy. And, on top of having to pay the tax, we have to watch a load of interruptions to the programmes. Give me a straighforward tax that I know that I am paying (the licence fee) and no interruptions to programmes any day. The alternative would be a Government levied sales tax equal to the advertising revenue that would be generated and then, at least, we wouldn't have to sit through adverts for soap, insurance, coke or whatever.... BTW isn't Sky Plus wonderful, by watching the programme 10 minutes after it is scheduled to start, you can skip the adverts altogether...
57. anonymous
If you ever spent any time in America or other countries yuo would know how bad television can get. Full of commercials, repeats and generllay rubbish prgrammes with appealing to a narrow range of people. BBC has variety, quality programmes (though maybe too many repeats) and NO COMMERCIALS. We should do everything we can to keep it. I understand why many people don't want to pay a license but until we come up with a better alternative that will maintain or even raise standards of BBC then I think it should continue.
58. anonymous
HA HA!! I have never ever in my life heard such Trash. Simply put, BBC if you want to broadcast, then go onto Pay per view. A PC tax, the PC world should be left to Microsoft, not a british Television company. This country is going backwards not forwards, Taxing people who use PC's. I suppose the BBC will charge those with PC's who do not have an internet connection or don't even want one. Just like those who Never watch BBC channels, that have to pay for them. PAY FOR THEM!! Wait they are on PPV afterall.!!
I am outraged by this, and I think many others will also feel the same as I do.
I think it's time that the BBC stood on it's own two feet and started paying for their own upkeep.
59. anonymous
The Dinosaur BBC needs to go, it consistently loses sound on remote broadcasts and only manages part-time broadcast on BBC3 & 4. It also has issues with literacy on news feeds. They may as well start taxing people who use toasters & microwaves. This would be yet another unfair tax(see history books).
60. Karen Challinor
paying for the capability to download iPlayer content even if you don't is ridiculous, but somewhat similar to the current TV License fee arrangement and I can see this having appeal to the BBC bosses, I predict riots if this happens though, and it wouldn't affect people outside the UK who download iPlayer content
paying for the downloads is a better idea, but the BBC also broadcast this material and once it is broadcast someone will have made a copy and copies get distributed all the time, I know it's a breach of copyright but it doesn't stop people doing it
so the only way I can think of which would be completely fair would be to use advertising revenue
but the BBC will not set foot on this road
they say they could not maintain the quality of the programming and that culturally things would go downhill
personally I think it's because they know they could not compete with the other channels if they had to use advertising
also if they had to use advertising then they would have to make programmes a significant number of people wanted to watch, so you never know we might get a service that gives us what we want rather than what someone thinks we should have