(edit title) New SVT law: why should I pay? And how to avoid TV fees Options

[Andrey Kiselev]

So, I got a call from SVT staff just an hour ago asking me to pay TV fees.

Their first question was if I have a TV or anything to watch TV. I answered no, because I do not watch TV at all.
Then they asked if I have internet connection, which I have. And then they said that I have to pay SVT fees because they stream their content online. I asked to clearly explain what exactly is the product they want me to purchase and especially why they are trying to force me to pay for a product, which I do not need. They could not answer and suggested to call them in daytime. I will call them tomorrow and ask to pay for reading my publications which are available online.

But, the main question is: how to legally avoid this TV fee? I suppose it goes against EU consumer law, but I am not sure in this.

[Willy]

Very simple to avoid, if you really want to: Just avoid talking to them. If they call, hang up. Or if you want to be polite, tell them that you don't have time to talk, then hang up. Don't let them into your home. They have no right to enter, except on your invitation. They have no way of proving anything, unless you tell them.

Up to your own conscience.

BTW, SVT is not doing their own fee collection. Radiotjänst i Kiruna is responsible for that. So if somebody called and said that they were from SVT, something fishy is going on.

[Andrey Kiselev]

This means that mistake is already done )) I am stupidly honest guy and I told them that I have internet connection.

But I am talking not about tricky way to avoid fee, but about how legal is purchase compulsion. This case is quite clear - someone is trying to force me to buy product which I do not need.

Sure, they said Radiotjänst, but we all know what they are doing

[polartwist]

I suppose it goes against EU consumer law, but I am not sure in this.

No, it is not. It's the same in my country and I always paid. I have no TV but just a laptop.
I don't understand why people always tries to cheat on the system and then complain if everything goes shit.

[Alexzan]

If you really want to aviod paying it you can change internet provider to for example Bahnhof, they launched a service called Tv-stopper, read more on their homepage:

http://bahnhof.se/priv/tvstopper

[Andrey Kiselev]

No, it is not. It's the same in my country and I always paid. I have no TV but just a laptop.I don't understand why people always tries to cheat on the system and then ... (show full quote)

No, it is not. It's the same in my country and I always paid. I have no TV but just a laptop.
I don't understand why people always tries to cheat on the system and then complain if everything goes shit. ... (hide full quote)

I am not trying to cheat anyone. But I want to clearly understand what I am paying for.

[johnjohn]

Just remember that they can charge you retroactivly going back something like 4 years.

[axiom]

I am not trying to cheat anyone. But I want to clearly understand what I am paying for.

So Sweden is a structured society built around a common understanding of the citizenry and how they would like the society to be. Part of this, is that they contribute to maintaining a public broadcasting service which is independent and does not rely on corporate money to keep afloat. i.e. SVT, SR UR, etc. This is not uncommon in Europe.

If you move to Sweden part of your responsibility for being a part of the society is following these rules. But you can opt out, by getting rid of your TV and disconnecting your internet connection, simple.

[oddsock]

No, it is not. It's the same in my country and I always paid. I have no TV but just a laptop.I don't understand why people always tries to cheat on the system and then ... (show full quote)

No, it is not. It's the same in my country and I always paid. I have no TV but just a laptop.
I don't understand why people always tries to cheat on the system and then complain if everything goes shit. ... (hide full quote)

Not quite sure how everything would "go to shit" if SVT ceased to exist.

[Andrey Kiselev]

If you really want to aviod paying it you can change internet provider to for example Bahnhof, they launched a service called Tv-stopper, read more on their homepage: . http://bahnhof.se/priv/tvstopper

Thanks a lot! It's exactly what i need

[Andrey Kiselev]

So Sweden is a structured society built around a common understanding of the citizenry and how they would like the society to be. Part of this, is that they contribute to main ... (show full quote)

So Sweden is a structured society built around a common understanding of the citizenry and how they would like the society to be. Part of this, is that they contribute to maintaining a public broadcasting service which is independent and does not rely on corporate money to keep afloat. i.e. SVT, SR UR, etc. This is not uncommon in Europe.

If you move to Sweden part of your responsibility for being a part of the society is following these rules. But you can opt out, by getting rid of your TV and disconnecting your internet connection, simple. ... (hide full quote)

You know, I really understand and appreciate this. But I will only pay something if they can change their attitude to "please, help us keep alive with no ads" instead of "you are obligated by law".
There are a lot of such projects, which entirely rely on donations. And donations help them to assess quality of their product. Look at Wikipedia.

[axiom]

haha to be honest I wouldn't mind if they tax man did that as well ... but

[byke]

Its a very grey area as discussed earlier.
I read a response by Swedish Politician, Rick Falkvinge regarding this latest interpretation of the law that radiotjanst is looking to enforce.

According to the politician who doesn't appear to support the notion, given what the EU law states and recent cases relating to it. He didn't think that if it went to court, that it could not be ruled as legal (depending on the actual case).

As far as I am led to believe, the notion of focus is not so much on the ownership of an internet subscription. But more so the ownership of computer hardware.

But again, we haven't really seen any news reports or consumer complaints or questions yet in regards to how radiotjanst is looking to claim this being covered by the law.

Its worth having a scan over the Human rights pdf file published via the European court.
Page 13 onwards.

http://echr.coe.int/NR/rdonlyres/C3804E16-...RHAND022004.pdf

[Andrey Kiselev]

Just remember that they can charge you retroactivly going back something like 4 years.

Hm... If they can assume that I consume their product just because I have internet connection, then I can also easily assume that I did not use it before I reported to them

[oddsock]

So Sweden is a structured society built around a common understanding of the citizenry and how they would like the society to be. Part of this, is that they contribute to main ... (show full quote)

So Sweden is a structured society built around a common understanding of the citizenry and how they would like the society to be. Part of this, is that they contribute to maintaining a public broadcasting service which is independent and does not rely on corporate money to keep afloat. i.e. SVT, SR UR, etc. This is not uncommon in Europe. ... (hide full quote)

Lecture.

If you move to Sweden part of your responsibility for being a part of the society is following these rules. But you can opt out, by getting rid of your TV and disconnecting your internet connection, simple.

The unfair thing is that people are being denied the freedom to opt out. Even if you get the Bahnhof SVT blocker they still come after you, because you have a computer connected to the internet.