Live web broadcasts and the BBC licence fee

The hot debate surrounding the BBC licence fee is about the get even more complicated with the BBC's announcement that yet more channels are set to be broadcast live online.

An item on the BBC website today reported:

BBC shows including EastEnders, Heroes and Never Mind The Buzzcocks will be available to watch live online from next week, the BBC has announced.

BBC One and BBC Two will be streamed live, - just as BBC Three, BBC Four, CBBC, CBeebies and BBC News are already broadcast on their channel websites.

Director of BBC vision Jana Bennett said this "completes our commitment" to make channels available online.

The live simulcast for both channels will be available from 27 November.

If viewers miss any programmes they will be available for up to a week on the BBC iPlayer.

"From 27 November licence fee payers will be able to watch BBC programmes live wherever they are in the UK on their computers, mobile phones and other portable devices," Ms Bennett said.

According to media watchdog Ofcom, the number of people watching TV on the internet has doubled in the last 12 months.

In 2006, Channel 4 became the first major UK TV channel to be simulcast on the internet.

As The Register points out:

Note "licence fee payers" in that quote. While catching up with shows on iPlayer does not require a TV licence, watching any live broadcast - including over the internet - does.

Big headaches lurk for enforcement authorities if live online viewing enters the mainstream: will cafes that offer Wi-Fi be required to buy a business TV licence in case their customers watch a bit of BBC One, for example?

Might this therefore also affect public libraries, who provide free internet access? And how far will the TV licence enforcers go? We have already seen mobile phone companies passing on details of customers who have purchased 3G or wireless-enabled handsets, so it's not a huge leap to imagine ISPs doing the same (if they're not already doing so).

Then comes the ambiguity of what constitutes a 'live' broadcast. A lot of 'live' streamed content is actually on a delay - a fact proven when you lose the stream and the player reconnects, taking you back to the exact second from whench you left off. TV Licencing has previously stated that even delayed 'hour plus one' type services would count as live, so we can see how ambiguous this could get.

Finally, how obvious will the difference be between 'live' content (requiring a licence) and non-live content (currently everything on iPlayer - not requiring a licence)? If the difference is subtle, it could be making it very easy for people to break the law without even realising it.