nelz wrote:That's essentially what happens, the licence fee is just another tax that goes into the pot to pay for everything, like road tax.
Not quite. All of the TV licence fee goes to the BBC.
This puts the BBC in a very particular position with regards to how they restrict access to their services.
I, as a TV licence fee payer, have, along with others, jointly paid for the iPlayer service. I have no choice in this.
For the BBC then to deliberately block access to a service I have paid for, merely because of my choice of receiving equipment is completely unacceptable.
If a PayTV (e.g. Sky) provider did this, then the user could cancel their subscription. As a licence fee payer I have no such option. I
have to keep paying the BBC, irrespective of how they screw me around. This makes their action with regard to Android iPlayer clients
doubly unacceptable.
The fact that it was probably licence money that paid for the legal fees with regard to shutting down BeebPlayer and MyPlayer makes this
triply unacceptable.
The BBC needs a bloody sharp kick up the ass. They should top pissing licence money up the wall and use it to produce quality programming and distribute to using open and free standards.
The way the BBC is funded demands this. If they want to use Flash. If they want to use closed standards. If they want to favour Apple. Fine.
But it shouldn't be funded by the TV Licence.