Abolish the TV licence and the associated enforcement bodies
Comment	acnorris 14th July 2010
The TV licence is no longer appropriate as only a small proportion of available television is supplied by the BBC and increasingly content is distributed by other means than terrestial wireless. It is basically a tax and should be treated as such. The present collection and enforcement schemes are a very inefficient way of collecting tax. The BBC could be funded from the treasury as we can afford and the money collected through any of the many current schemes withou additional cost. The enforcment schemes are expensive, draconian and do not contribute to the quality of our society.
The concept of the TV licence is outdated and comes from the days when the BBC was a sole supplier. We now punish and imprison people, many of whom are on limited incomes and to whom the television is a comfort and perhaps a sole source of entertainment. The money spent on collecting the licence fee, the money spent on advertising and the whole detector system and its associated collection of personal data could be put to better use.
database state databases freedom justice killthetv privacy red tape
Remove the requirement to buy a TV licence.
Denationalise the BBC; abolish the TV licence.
TV licence fee should be reclassified as a civil offence – not a criminal offence
Collect TV licence with council tax to reduce collection costs