Direct Democracy proposal for IT, Communications and Data Protection
Review of BBC 'TV' Licensing
Reform Option 1: PPV instead of licensing:
Should the People's Administration install direct democracy, we propose to force the BBC onto Pay Per View, where it shall lease digital subscriber lines on existing cable or satellite networks. The TV licence will be abolished and customers can choose to either pay monthly subscriptions [as with other networks] purely to access BBC services or to not pay at all if customers don't wish to receive BBC services.
One constant in the BBC's argument in favour of licensing is that their priority is the need to fund quality programming. If this is actually more than just an opinion, then the BBC will have no problem surviving in the commercial sector. If it doesn't survive, then why should it even exists in any form if people choose not to receive BBC services?
If the BBC is still controlled by the government [as the Greg Dyke affair demonstrated], and evasion of licence fee payment is to remain a criminal offence and not a civil offence, then it should be funded by the state through tax bringing it fully under state-ownership, giving the people a say on how the BBC is run and - making it accountable to the people.
Reform Option 2: Licensing:
As the BBC is not owned by the state [even if controlled by the state], penalties for non-payment of the licence fee will become a civil offence, not a criminal offence. This would mean that less people would be sent to prison for this minor offence and this in turn would mean help to ease prison over-crowding.
It has been reported that up to 80% of women imprisoned for non-payment are single mothers and so, if the implications of licence payment evasion effect the well-being of our children, then this issue is far more reaching than just an issue of payment as this means that the BBC are directly responsible for increasing social disintegration. In these circumstances and in our opinion, the BBC's Corporation Tax payments become no more than just a token gesture.
The licence fee will be sold as a ‘BBC licence' and not as a TV licence, as in our opinion, the current format is in breach of the Trades Description Act as it is only a licence to access BBC services. The licence also covers access by Inet and mobile devices also so it clearly is not a TV licence.
If you own a computer or mobile phone, you now have to pay for a 'TV' licence even if you are not actually connected to the Internet.
The BBC even pay for ad space on bus services that operate in local communities, disclosing the names and addresses of non-payers and we feel that this is both discriminatory and draconian - especially when the UK licence payer is paying for the rest of the world to access BBC services.
• BBC blocking the People's Administration direct democracy party
Voting for direct democracy outside a general election
It is up to us, the people [not the politicians] to use the power that we have always had, to choose to implement direct democracy as soon as possible.
This is not a protest campaign.
Following the People's Administration Direct Democracy Party [a mainstream registered party since March 2010] on Twitter, gives us your permission [when a majority] to invoke existing laws under UN Articles 21 and 61 [which the UK is signed-up to], so as to take immediate control of all policy decision-making by forming a legitimate UN-sanctioned direct democracy with majority election and without revolution, in the UK.
Follow: @self_rule
The People's Administration's constitution for reform to direct democracy and our voting protocols have both been accepted by the UK Electoral Commission and the UN as legitimate. In a general election, the People's Administration does not have to field candidates to secure your vote on the ballot paper. Outside a general election, you can vote for a legitimate reform to direct democracy now!
