Ah, it looks like StuStaff is right. I just found this on the BBC Internet blog (
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcintern..._a_tv_1.html):
Quote:
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At the moment, the legal position is that you don't need a licence to watch TV purely on-demand, but you do if you are watching TV live (through any receiving device in the home)
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and this in the iPlayer help (
http://iplayerhelp.external.bbc.co.u...er/tvlicence):
Quote:
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You do not need a television licence to catch-up on television programmes in BBC iPlayer, only when you watch or record at the same time (or virtually the same time) as it is being broadcast or otherwise distributed to the public. In BBC iPlayer, this is through the Watch Live simulcast option.
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But none of this affects my main point, which was that the BBC is not tax-funded and is therefore not influenced by government policies.