21 June, 2008

Turn off

My Freeview set-top box died on Thursday night, so I've bought a replacement.
Argos offered the best price, but since I was buying TV receiving equipment, the cashier demanded my name and address on behalf of the TVLA.

I was tempted to go elsewhere – no retailer complying with spurious governmental requests deserves my custom – but the alternative was far simpler: I paid cash and gave fake details. Unless John Coulston (manager of the Lancaster Banking Company, 1826-1866) really does enjoy EastEnders from his old office at 68 Church Street.

The UK has operated TV licensing since 1946, and the enforcement regime seems to have worked – so don't change it. No doubt it's easier for the TVLA if people meekly add themselves to the database, but as I say (too often...) the responsibility of the state is to serve its citizens, never the reverse. When that arm of the state happens to be a private-sector contractor, the demands are even less acceptable.

I comply with the law, and it's for the TVLA to prove otherwise. I'm damned if I'll do their job for them, merely for their convenience.