SN 811: What the FLoC?

Beep boop - this is a robot. A new show has been posted to TWiT…

What are your thoughts about today’s show? We’d love to hear from you!

re Express VPN ad: I’m not 100% sure, but I think accessing BBC contents like Doctor Who from within the UK without paying UK TV License is illegal. When you opt out of paying TV License in the UK, they make it pretty clear that it’ll be illegal for you to access things like iPlayer or BBC content on Netflix from then on.

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Yes, access to iPlayer requires you pay the TV license - although I hardly think they will turn up with a detector van in Petaluma to have a word with @Leo

But, theoretically, using ExpressVPN to access BBC content in the UK, without having a UK TV license would be breaking UK law. Using it when on holiday away from the UK should be okay though.

…and, you know, the reason you cannot watch Doctor Who in the US is probably because your TV network hasn’t licensed it from the BBC for distribution in the US so either way, I don’t think using a VPN for that particular purpose is advisable.

Steve mentioned that Macintosh was a working title (or at least that’s what I understood). Does anyone know of the historical context here?

Agreed, everybody does it, but maybe brave to use it in your ad copy :slightly_smiling_face:

I will have to check. ExpressVPN put it in their copy and I read it verbatim. But if it’s illegal we’ll take it out.

I know BBC tries to prevent VPN users from using iPlayer, but I don’t know the state of British law, nor what the consequences would be to US users. ExpressVPN only wants US listeners - perhaps for that reason - but we don’t have a way to prevent listeners in the UK or elsewhere from hearing their ads. Certainly I don’t want to be recommending anything illegal. But illegal in the UK is not the same thing as illegal in the US.

For example, we’re heard in China, too, but I’m pretty sure it’s illegal to use ExpressVPN in China.

I still think they should profile the site and not the visitor.

If you watch the BBC iPlayer (UK streaming player, not their international website) without paying the license fee, you have to pay a 4 figure fine, but you will no longer face a prison sentence, that was abolished a couple of years ago.

I’m assuming here, as I missed this particular discussion, but I will refer here:

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No, much better to use a VPN to run a torrent client and … oh, oops, never mind :wink:

I mean, I wasn’t going to say it… :stuck_out_tongue: