Here in the UK, you need a TV license if you have any equipment in your house designed
to receive broadcasts (TV tuner, radio etc). The revenue from licenses is the main
source of funding the BBC have. However, as you may guess, forcing people to pay a
license even if they don’t watch BBC channels is a pretty sore point as it’s seen
as a tax on owning a TV. This, coupled with the intimidation that
the BBC use to gather their license fees, has given rise to a number of cries in the
past for the license to be abolished. Check
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