Hello Martin and all Don't get me wrong here; this isn't a personal issue regarding anybody and I can understand people taking the loopholes that are there. I also don't object to sharing our information content. What I object too martin, and possibly your comments below are based on a lack of information, is that those wishing to view content for which we, the residents of that country, have to pay, shouldn't be able to get in via the back door. If they can, then that's not their fault and I' not criticising them personally. I might do the same thing. So please don't anybody think I'm having a go at anybody personally here.
As I said, I think, Martin, that you may not be aware of the fact that we have to pay a license fee to watch this sort of stuff. That license is rigorously enforced and breaking the rules leads to a 1 thousand Pound fine, plus a 28 day prison sentence and a conviction as a criminal if caught. The IF signals of the TV or video equipment are used by detector vans with specialist equipment which go around at all hours of the day and night. They check every street at random times and the vehicles are unmarked; so you can't tell when they are there. That fact, the fact that we have to pay for something which others are trying to get for free, is the only reason why I am in favour of the ban. Some of the other TV channels in the UK have other reasons for banning access to their content. And the primary of those is copyright. They take out viewing rights agreements with the owners of the content, and the production companies who sell it on to the TV stations. Those agreements contain copyright clauses which prohibit the TV channels from making their content freely available. That, and that only, is the reason why they prohibit access to overseas individuals. I've done some checking and actually, the network providers of VPN and other access points are themselves liable for prosecution it seems if their clients use their facilities to access copyright material. I don't know what the situation is regarding the person themselves; but my information is that the provider of the services usually makes it quite clear to people who subscribe that their agreement is that they don't use the service for any illegal activities. Therefore, if the provider is made aware of such abuse by the broadcaster or copyright holder, they apparently take a very dim view of it and take the appropriate measures. This is only what I'm being told; I am no expert. So again, I would say Martin that you're comments are somewhat idealistic in nature. Yes, nice work if you can get it and, if somebody gets away with doing it, then fine, I have no problem with that whatsoever. It's not my place to enforce the law, nor would I ever dream of trying to tell others what they should and shouldn't do. I'm just expressing my personal views that I don't see why others should have access free of charge to something for which I have to pay almost £200 a year, GBP, to use or access. Lynne On 30 Nov 2011, at 14:21, Martin McCormick wrote: •I am a believer of the statement that information wants to be free. Most countries have put their best faces forward over short wave radio for almost 90 years at great expense to their tax-paying citizens. In the overall scheme of things, the expense is miniscule compared with defense, health care in those countries smart enough to realize that this is the best way to do things, but it is still a large sum of money for staff and transmitting facilities to just fling a signal in to the air in hopes somebody over seas finds it interesting and useful. ======================================= The Techno-Chat E-Mail forum is guaranteed malware, spyware, Trojan, virus and worm-free To modify your subscription options, please visit for forum's dedicated web pages located at http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/techno-chat You can find an archive of all messages posted to the Techno-Chat group at either of the following websites: http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/techno-chat/index.html Or: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]> you may also subscribe to this list via RSS. The feed is at: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml> ---------------------------------------
