That American Girl
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2009
- Messages
- 4,581
- Location
- Columbus, Ohio
- Car(s)
- None, right now. Bye Bye Mustang. :-(
Sort of Epic Rant against ?I pay for it and you don?t? posts
This is for the almost daily response to a post about not being able to view videos from BBC from outside the UK. Someone will always pipe up with the typical:
?Well I have to pay a license fee, and you don?t. So you don?t deserve to be able to watch them like I do?
This is utter rubbish.
You?re right; I don?t pay a license fee to the BBC. Sort of. I do pay extra on my cable bill for the ?Premium Package? to see BBC America. This costs me about $25 extra a month, or roughly $300 a year. This gives me two extra channels that I really watch, BBC America, and the Discovery Channel. Just so I can get old re-runs that have been hacked to bits. So, I don?t pay the ?fee? because I can?t.
Also, I have been a die hard Doctor Who fan for over 30 years. And here in the States, try to get that on DVD or any other collectible item. Don?t even get me started on finding Torchwood or Top Gear stuff.
As far as the amount of money I put into the BBC?s pocket versus a ?license payer?, I can pretty sure guarantee that I?ve spent more in the last 5 years alone, than any 10 random people in the UK.
As I said, I?ve been a Who fan for years, and over these years through yard sales, E-Bay, the bits that dribble onto Amazon.com, friends who live in the UK and my trips over there..I?ve amassed a huge collection of memorabilia. As a matter of fact, when I bought this house, I got one with an extra bedroom to store/showcase all of my collectibles. Including Doctor Who, Star Wars, Transformers, and now Torchwood and Top Gear.
When I changed insurance companies, I had to give an inventory of all my collectibles. And to be honest, I don?t know whether to be embarrassed or proud of my, ahem..collection. I still have tons of receipts (OCD to the rescue!), and for everything else, I had to show what it would cost to replace these items with something similar.
So as far as what I?ve officially paid to the BBC in collectibles: I stopped counting and pricing when I hit the $50,000 mark. Because that?s all they would cover without an official outside appraisal. I?ll bet I?m closer to the $65,000 mark of stuff that came just from the BBC, i.e. Doctor Who, Torchwood and the bits I?ve managed to scrape up of Top Gear.
Anyway..
I?ve also bought a ton of the books from the presenters this year off Amazon, when they offer the option of shipping to the US, and am actually looking at having to get yet another DVD player that is multi-region, just because you rarely find anything that is Region 1 in the States! Because content that you download is mostly inferior in quality to a true DVD and I can see and hear the difference. I know that, and I am more than willing to hand them my money for a quality product. But, alas..I can?t. Not allowed to.
I have found a few DVD sets on Amazon and E-Bay that will play here, and when I see them, I snap them up. But it?s always hit or miss. And generally lacking all the extras. And to make it worse, there?s a ton of new stuff coming out for Christmas such as the ?James May Toy Stories? or his ?Train your Brain? DVD?that I?m just hosed on.
So yeah, I will readily admit that I have downloaded a ton of Top Gear episodes off line, simply because I have no other choice if I want to view them. And I do find ways around the blocking of clips for the Non-UK viewer.
It?s not a matter of ?Oh, I can get it free, so why pay for it?? I and many other people here would willingly pay that license fee if we had the option. Or buy the DVD?s when they come available. But we can?t. And probably never will. We want to hand the BBC our money. And quite a bit of it. Not just here in the States, but from other countries as well.
I have no objections to the BBC or any other company making a profit off a TV show or movie. They?re the ones putting up the time and money to make it. I don?t go to work for free, and I don?t expect them to do it either. And profit is not a dirty word. The more money they make, the more likely it will be that I?ll be able to enjoy this great show for quite a while.
I don?t pay the fee because I am not allowed to.
I don?t buy all the new episodes on DVD (yet) because I am not allowed to.
I don?t pay for and download episodes off of iTunes, because I am not allowed to.
Because the BBC says I can?t. Not because I want it for free.
So, you who post things about paying it, while we don?t:
You at least have that option. You can walk into just about any store there and find loads of BBC merchandise. Or just pop on the TV and watch Top Gear as soon as it comes out. We can?t.
We don?t have that option. And it?s not by our choice. And I don?t want to hear any more about the ?it would cost too much to make it available worldwide over the ?net?.
Nonsense.
So, before you post that old ?I pay a license fee and you don?t? drivel:
Shoosh!
This is for the almost daily response to a post about not being able to view videos from BBC from outside the UK. Someone will always pipe up with the typical:
?Well I have to pay a license fee, and you don?t. So you don?t deserve to be able to watch them like I do?
This is utter rubbish.
You?re right; I don?t pay a license fee to the BBC. Sort of. I do pay extra on my cable bill for the ?Premium Package? to see BBC America. This costs me about $25 extra a month, or roughly $300 a year. This gives me two extra channels that I really watch, BBC America, and the Discovery Channel. Just so I can get old re-runs that have been hacked to bits. So, I don?t pay the ?fee? because I can?t.
Also, I have been a die hard Doctor Who fan for over 30 years. And here in the States, try to get that on DVD or any other collectible item. Don?t even get me started on finding Torchwood or Top Gear stuff.
As far as the amount of money I put into the BBC?s pocket versus a ?license payer?, I can pretty sure guarantee that I?ve spent more in the last 5 years alone, than any 10 random people in the UK.
As I said, I?ve been a Who fan for years, and over these years through yard sales, E-Bay, the bits that dribble onto Amazon.com, friends who live in the UK and my trips over there..I?ve amassed a huge collection of memorabilia. As a matter of fact, when I bought this house, I got one with an extra bedroom to store/showcase all of my collectibles. Including Doctor Who, Star Wars, Transformers, and now Torchwood and Top Gear.
When I changed insurance companies, I had to give an inventory of all my collectibles. And to be honest, I don?t know whether to be embarrassed or proud of my, ahem..collection. I still have tons of receipts (OCD to the rescue!), and for everything else, I had to show what it would cost to replace these items with something similar.
So as far as what I?ve officially paid to the BBC in collectibles: I stopped counting and pricing when I hit the $50,000 mark. Because that?s all they would cover without an official outside appraisal. I?ll bet I?m closer to the $65,000 mark of stuff that came just from the BBC, i.e. Doctor Who, Torchwood and the bits I?ve managed to scrape up of Top Gear.
Anyway..
I?ve also bought a ton of the books from the presenters this year off Amazon, when they offer the option of shipping to the US, and am actually looking at having to get yet another DVD player that is multi-region, just because you rarely find anything that is Region 1 in the States! Because content that you download is mostly inferior in quality to a true DVD and I can see and hear the difference. I know that, and I am more than willing to hand them my money for a quality product. But, alas..I can?t. Not allowed to.
I have found a few DVD sets on Amazon and E-Bay that will play here, and when I see them, I snap them up. But it?s always hit or miss. And generally lacking all the extras. And to make it worse, there?s a ton of new stuff coming out for Christmas such as the ?James May Toy Stories? or his ?Train your Brain? DVD?that I?m just hosed on.
So yeah, I will readily admit that I have downloaded a ton of Top Gear episodes off line, simply because I have no other choice if I want to view them. And I do find ways around the blocking of clips for the Non-UK viewer.
It?s not a matter of ?Oh, I can get it free, so why pay for it?? I and many other people here would willingly pay that license fee if we had the option. Or buy the DVD?s when they come available. But we can?t. And probably never will. We want to hand the BBC our money. And quite a bit of it. Not just here in the States, but from other countries as well.
I have no objections to the BBC or any other company making a profit off a TV show or movie. They?re the ones putting up the time and money to make it. I don?t go to work for free, and I don?t expect them to do it either. And profit is not a dirty word. The more money they make, the more likely it will be that I?ll be able to enjoy this great show for quite a while.
I don?t pay the fee because I am not allowed to.
I don?t buy all the new episodes on DVD (yet) because I am not allowed to.
I don?t pay for and download episodes off of iTunes, because I am not allowed to.
Because the BBC says I can?t. Not because I want it for free.
So, you who post things about paying it, while we don?t:
You at least have that option. You can walk into just about any store there and find loads of BBC merchandise. Or just pop on the TV and watch Top Gear as soon as it comes out. We can?t.
We don?t have that option. And it?s not by our choice. And I don?t want to hear any more about the ?it would cost too much to make it available worldwide over the ?net?.
Nonsense.
So, before you post that old ?I pay a license fee and you don?t? drivel:
Shoosh!