The BBC iPlayer : Users to pay for TV Licence from September 2016

[shoshani]

It's going to be interesting to see how listener verification will be accomplished for BBC Radio on wifi radio devices. My guess is that any of those devices that run on Reciva, or that are made by UK companies whose databases are also hosted in the UK (Pure, Revo, Ruark, possibly Roberts) might run into fewer problems, but who knows.

With television, it gets stickier, because the licence covers an entire house, including (if I understand this correctly) children in university. Which means that, conceivably, the same licence number could be used to log in multiple times, even from multiple locations at once.

(I also wonder how the TV licence requirement is going to be dealt with by apps such as ToView, TVCatchup, and TVPlayer.)

[Dogmatix]

I believe that user verification will only be required for iPlayer, not for live or 'on demand' listening on internet radio devices, regardless of location.

I'm not so sure about university students being covered by their parents' licences; I don't think they are (unless they are using portable devices only with wholly contained power source).

[Dogmatix]

The Guardian: "iPlayer catchup service will require user login within weeks, says BBC"

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/may/11/iplayer-catchup-service-will-require-user-login-within-weeks-says-bbc-tv-licence-fee-evasion

[Alan E Hill]

I've actually signed in to iPlayer for months.

Occasionally it asks me if I have a licence before allowing me to continue to watch.

I'm not certain this is an actual change other than requiring all users to register.

[shoshani]

I've logged in on my phone and on the computer. My Blu-Ray player has a BBC iPlayer app as part of the software, but it hasn't asked for a login. (The account information doesn't ask for a street address, at any rate. Yet.)