Originally Posted by Neil (Post 719397)

That is not correct Margaret.

Virgin equipment does talk to virgin and Sky does through the phone line.

A Virgin box is a bit like a piece of internet equipment, it has MAC and IP addresses. Virgin know what channel your box is on and what you are watching. This comunication between your box and Virgin is what makes Virgin so good. You can select programs on demand and watch what you want from a big list of stuff. You can also watch it when you want, so you can pick a film and watch it now if you want, not wait until the next scheduled start time. The program is then sent to your box (sort of).

You can also access BBC iPlayer from your set top box and watch the programs on your TV like any other program. This is great because most normal people want to watch TV in the living room not sat at the PC (yes you can connect your PC to your TV but Virgins is an idiot proof system for normal humans) Sky's satellite system can not do this as there is no real communication back to Sky. Yes with Sky+ you can select some programmes to watch but these have been saved to your box by Sky so the choice is more limited.

Originally Posted by blazey (Post 719518)

At the end of the day, if you don't want to pay a tv licence then don't use a service that forces you to, like Sky, if that is the case though I am not convinced that they can force you to buy into another service like that as well that requires a licence...

Originally Posted by Neil (Post 719584)

I have no choice, that is what is wrong. I want to watch TV but am forced to buy a licence. Watching TV on a PC is not a viable option for my family.

Originally Posted by accyman (Post 719618)

get one of those flat tv's and put it on teh wall you share with your neighbour and run your ariel lead off their roof ariel

that way they cant say for sure which house the tv is in when the detector van comes around

just hope next door has a licence lol :D