[Resistance] How To Respond To TV Licensing Threats

This Post Is Rated: C for Controversial. Contains references to government enabled thuggery no less.

A while ago Neil Herron posted an excellent response he had sent to TVL Enforcement:

“Despite a call to your 0870 number, I continue to receive threatening letters from yourselves.

Therefore, as I have replied to you, and requested the attendance of one of your authorised officers at a mutually convenient time in order to be interviewed in compliance with the Police & Criminal Evidence Act 1984, I consider any further intimidatory letters or implied threats as harassment.” – Neil Herron

I do not believe in TV Licensing. There are few countries in the world today that force their citizens to pay for a telecommunications licence. The people of New Zealand are the most recent example of a nation successfully rising up to challenge and overturn their draconian licencing laws. I would encourage people here to also protest and write to their MPs.

There are also countries who have proved that public service television can be successful without licensing. Canada, for example does not require you to own a licence to view public service television. There are only two channels available for free, then you purchase cable for the rest.

Usually when it comes to licensing the BBC, the counter-argument always presented usually follows the lines of how the BBC can afford to take risks, we wouldn’t get the quality programming if it wasn’t funded by the licence and it allows the BBC to remain impartial. Bullshit. ITV, Channel 4 and even Channel 5 are now able to compete with substantial quality programming at no cost to the tax payer.

But there is a more sinister work afoot with TV Licensing, and that is the subcontracting of the work to a firm called Capita which also run things like the Criminal Records Bureau, Congestion Charging and Council Tax. If you are not concerned yet, you should be. At this rate, 20 years from now Capita will be monitoring your every move in our increasingly Orwellian society.

With regards to TV Licensing, Capita’s method of enforcement appears to be:

1. Send warning letter to ANY household not currently registered with a licence on our database (yes that means people without TVs included).
2. Send threatening letter to ANY household that has not yet paid up (regardless of electronics owning status).
3. Send a different version of threatening letter from step 2. Use lots of RED BOLD FONT.
4. Send threatening letter: AN ENFORCEMENT OFFICER WILL SOON VISIT TO INTERVIEW YOU UNDER POLICE AND CRIMINAL EVIDENCE ACT… BLAHCAKES…
5. Wait 3 months.
6. Repeat steps 1-5.

Anyone who has moved home or been a student will probably recognise one or more of the TVL letters mentioned above. We recently received all of these letters twice over when we first moved into our flat in London, before we had our TV setup. They seem to have been sending them since the last tenant left, whilst no-one was living there, until we arrived.

When we finally got the TV setup and grudgingly paid for our licence, surprise! We were still receiving these threatening letters! It got to Step 4 twice, and yet, no enforcement official (which I was looking forward to). Why?

The answer dear readers is simple. They seem to have little enforcement on the ground, though this is hard to determine, since they have not really been forthcoming with the FOI requests (read the pdfs). It is reported that even their detection equipment is not nearly as good as they make out.

So what to do with these threats and harrassments from the TVL? I would not encourage anyone to break the law, but let’s just say if they ever turn up at my doorstep, regardless of whether I have a TV and licence or not, I would tell them in polite and no uncertain terms to f*** off and get a warrant.

If you you need a little more detail than that, here’s a short guide:

1. Ignore the threat letters, read others’ personal accounts, opinions and check the forums
2. Read one persons experience of their rhetorical threats.
3. You are worried, are they coming for you? BBC Resistance has all the answers. Take your time over the material there, enjoy.
4. Fed up of their hateful, empty threats? Write a ‘cease and desist’ letter revoking their ‘implied right of access’ (also see Neil Herron link above).
5. On the event that an enforcement clown officer shows up at your door, you have a right to refuse entry unless they have a warrant. They most definitely won’t have a warrant if it’s the first visit. Only a court can issue a search warrant on reasonable ground to suspect you have a TV. This means they have to apply individually for every innocent person they harass.
6. In the highly unlikely event they obtain a warrant, they will most likely want to interview you under caution. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SAY ANYTHING. However, be not afraid. Know this: They only want your money. I cannot find the source but did I read a post for the job of TV Licence Enforcement Officer on a jobsite a long time ago. It was a “day in the life of” in which the officer explained he would try to sell a licence to the person he had interviewed. This is what they will probably try to do. (If I find the link I will post it).
7. Protest and resist. It is completely immoral and possibly unlawful to send out letters randomly to anyone who does not own a licence. This is an assumption of guilt and requires the recipient to prove their innocence.

It’s time the UK caught up with the 21st Century and realise that not everything can or should be taxed.

[Lost] Jackface!

This Post Is Rated: F for Friendly and Fun. Just for Lost fans.

Source: Lostpedia

And for hardcore fans, geeks and theorists who like to freeze-frame every episode for easter eggs, theories, continuity and philosophy, check out ThEmIsFiTiShErE for some interesting theories.

[Mentality] How To Be A Victim

This Post Is Rated: O for Downright Offensive! It’s controversial! Get your lawyers, call the police, a blogger has commented on a hot issue and we don’t agree with his opinion.

Whoa, Alex, getting personal now?

Well, in a way yes, but no, not really.

[Fantastic Beasts] Hogzilla!

This Post Is Rated: F for Friendly Post. Just good humoured.

Being a fan of Lost, I couldn’t resist, but perhaps it belongs on this island.

News story: Breitbart

[Ideologies] Right-Minded Individuals

This Post Is Rated: M for You will probably be Mildly offended. But you won’t be able to explain why.

A while back Bryan Ferry was quoted in The Grauniad about his comments praising Nazi aesthetics.

“I apologise unreservedly for any offense caused by my comments… I, like every right-minded individual, find the Nazi regime, and all it stood for, evil and abhorrent.”

I found it interesting he referenced right-minded individuals (no, I don’t mean politically). I find it interesting because it causes me to wonder, do right-minded individuals really find the Nazi regime abhorrent? I think to verify that, we would need to know who would be considered a ‘right-minded individual’. We also need to establish what exactly was abhorrent about the Nazi regime?

Nazism, defined by Wikipedia is:

• National socialism
• Totalitarian ideology and practices
• A loose collection of incoherent postions including anti-parliamentarism, ethnic nationalism, racism, collectivism, eugenics, anti-Semitism, opposition to economic and political liberalism, a racially-defined and conspiratorial view of finance capitalism, and anti-communism
• Positive Christianity
• Nationalism
• Influenced by Nietzsche

I haven’t listed every single reference on Wikipedia (one hotly disputed section argues that Nazism was anti-capitalist which is a joke), nevertheless these are the main associations with Nazi ideology. You will notice that ethnic nationalism, anti-liberalism, anti-communism and nationalism are on this list. Strangely enough, you can find examples of large groups of people who support these ideologies alive and well today (particularly in regards to the American government).

So is it really right-minded to oppose these ideologies? I suspect that many ‘right-minded individuals’ were caught up in the Nazi rhetoric before we could look back in hindsight knowing it was all evil and abhorrent. After all, how else would Hitler rise to power if he was not charismatic and good at blending a patriotic and religious message?

Perhaps being ‘right-minded’ is not enough… or perhaps it’s not about being ‘right-minded’ at all. The problem with using a term such as ‘right-minded’ is that it can only be defined in relative terms. Instead of acknowledging what is essentially evil or abhorrent, we define it as evil and abhorrent only as long as the majority of what we consider ‘right-minded individuals’ find it evil and abhorrent.

See how easy it is to fall into the trap of circular reasoning?

Why am I making such a meal of this? Because it’s quite apparent to me that “I, like every right-minded individual” is a rhetorical statement.

It’s important for us to analyse what makes an ideology evil, and to stand against it as a matter of principal. We should not stand against an ideology simply because someone we dislike believes in it, or everyone agrees it’s wrong – otherwise we will not recognise true evil when it stares us in the face.

[Blogger] That Was Odd…

This Post Is Rated: F for Friendly. Reflections on lost blogs.

In my last post I mentioned my other blog Dark Side of the Light in purgatory (see comments).

I just checked tonight and darksidelight.blogspot.com was available again, along with abandonallfear.blogspot.com.

Of course I reclaimed! Particularly since the folks at Dead Yet Living failed to update their link since it was lost.

[Blogdeath] Where Do Blogs Go When They Die?

This Post Is Rated: F for Friendly Post. Nothing here you’ll find insulting your religiosity.

The End of the Road – Raw Carrot
So this is free speech? – Argos Employee
Stand Down – Universal Soldier

Theories

Re-incarnated? Independant Christian Voice
In Purgatory? Dark Side of the Light
Zombified? Quinnblog
Bodysnatched? The Cranky Insomniac Bartender

Is there a blog afterlife? Should there be a charity for abandoned blogs?

I actually like what the cranky insomniac did- but I wish the new tenant would change the title already. I offered up my starter blog when I decided to move on, but sadly had no takers. I moved some of the archive posts over here, but it’s now gone to the abyss.

I’m now feeling my favourite mood. Melancholy.

[Copywrong] Here’s a FACT about F.A.C.T.

This Post Is Rated: I for Isn’t that illegal? No, it’s not. Yet.

It seems to me, ironically, that only legally rented, bought and viewed movies display the Federation Against Copyright Theft‘s impotent warning message. That is, only those who have actually bought, rented or viewed legally have been warned not to buy, rent or view illegal copies…

Regular readers be advised!

Abandon All Fear will soon be going under the radar. This website and blog will be filtering ip addresses and blocking access to most government, police and copyright protection organisations.

No, I’m not planning to offer the latest Arctic Monkeys song for download or anything like that. I do however intend to discuss the subject of copyright in the near future, along with speed cameras, parking and other legal matters which is viewed by some as a war between aging business models and profit making versus the future.

I’d rather not have big brother snooping in on my blog, not liking what they see, discovering my identity and/or watching for some sort of mistake.

However, I am aware that some of my dear readers may work for the government et al. Therefore if you find you can no longer access the blog in the next few days, drop me an email (see sidebar) with your IP and I will reply in view of restoring your access.

You have been warned!

[Bible Fight] Mary Kicks Satans Ass!

This Post Is Rated: M for Midly Offensive. If you’re super-spiritual.

This is Awesome!

Bible Fight

HT: Dark Side of the Moon Chaplaincy

[Resolutions] Foolish Words

This is a sidestep from my usual rant.

This new year I made 1 resolution. My resolution could be viewed as foolhardy, unwise and uninformed. It felt that way anyway. Even as the words left my lips, I felt uncomfortable and had no way of backing it up. Nevertheless the words had passed into the air, and were out there. They were verbal deeds. My declaration?