German TV license for computers and mobile phones

According to this article at the Frankfurter Allgemeine, there is a government proposal to introduce a GEZ fee for computers from 1st January 2007. It will apply to all computers with an internet connection, even those that don't have the capability of receiving radio or television signals.

www.rundfunkgebuehrenzahler.de

Careful!

The EU is trying to introduce duty on pc monitors that can receive TV signals by up to 14% !

Those of you who pay GEZ anyway, was on the news the other day that it's set to rise again!

Fcuk mates. The GEZ just caught up wit me. I thought about sending fat tony down to bust some heads but then i remembered I don't have a fat tony...yet. What a bunch of wankers. This is nuttin but hairy bollocks. Will it be cell phones next...those can't receive radio and tv signals either can they? Whatever. Losers with small bits better not try and fee my crackberry.

This man, his name is Hans-Herwig Geyer, which means vulture in English, is the driving madman behind all this. Spokesperson for the German Musical Collection Society, (musical royalties) he wanted all computers to be more expensive, because you could steal music with it. Now they got the GEZ on it.

Did you know the GEZ actually can gain entry to your place to inspect your usage of undeclared TV and radio sets on a random basis?

[size=1]Thread cross-references:

TV Licenses in Germany - To Pay or Not Toupé?

GEZ - German TV License Payments, how do I get rid of them?

Hmm, interesting, mobile phones can receive radio signals. I've got a radio in my 6610. I've also got a radio in a pen and occasionally during periods of high atmospheric pressure I've picked up Charivari on my fillings. Looks like I'm stuffed.

My understanding from previous discussions on this subject is that the GEZ spooks cannot gain entry to your apartment unless you expressly permit them. Maybe someone can locate some actual documentary facts on the subject to end any speculation.

Edit: or perhaps it's the in threads that Ed Bob popped up

No the GEZ can't gain entry to your place. Never have and never will.

Just ignore them. Do not talk to them. You have no TV, and you have no radio. Period.

If you say anything else then you deserve to pay.

If anyone is standing outside your flat as you come home and asks you who you are tell them you are the cleaner (putzfrau, esp. good if you are a bloke) and don't let them in. They're either Jehovah's Witnesses or the GEZ - they look the same but either way you're better off without them.

According to todays papers, this will be applied to all people with PC's in 2007??

Bastards!!

I've just seen the longest German word that I would ever use. Longer even than "Kreisverwaltungsreferat", which I thought was pretty long.

"Rundfunkgebührenabwicklungskonto" - the bank account for paying your TV license fee. 10 syllables! 33 letters!

I got my first letter from the GEZ yesterday. Said I need to reply to them registering what i have in the way of radio and tv by the end of the month.

So if i reply saying i dont have anything like this are they likely to check?

from letter:

"Der Rundfunkgebuehren-Aussendienst prueft nach und nach alle nicht angemeldeten Rundfunkgebuehren-Sachverhalte"

is the 2nd paragraph of post 4 on this thread a lot of BS?

indeed tis shite what they are going to do with the computers. some areas of this seem so grey though regarding radios... if someone just comes round do i throw the tiny walkman size radio over the balcony or something? i cant believe you actually need a license for likes of them.

Do NOT answer your door to strangers Schotte and Do NOT get into any conversation with strangers on your doorstep. It helps not to have a TV visible if you look through your open front door.

Schotte - Dont bother answering. I got two of the same letters last year, ignored both and never heard from them again.

I call shenanigans on that one. Sorry maggie.

Don't let them into your home.
http://www.datenschutz-berlin.de/recht/de/gg/gg1_de.htm I don't remember why I have this link, but here it is.
Complain here.

I breathe a sigh of relief as I am leaving before that deadline of Jan 2007.
Perhaps by then we will all have computer signals from satelites and they won't be able to trace you.

So far I'm controlling my rant about the perverted logic of charging GEZ fees on a computer 'because it's connected to the internet'. They may as well call it a 'tax on things with a screen on them'. Bastards.

Anyway, Schotte, as I've said before some entertainment can be had with those envelopes the GEZ send you for your reply. Fill them with the day's junk mail and send them off - you can get quite creative selecting appropriate material for them. As the bastards are too tight to send out postage paid envelopes it'll cost them even more.

PP