Editor Bob

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I'm no expert, but my thoughts based on 20 years living in Germany and knowing roughly how these things work...   > Will she get kicked out of berlin (germany)?   No.   > will they revoke her visa?   No. > Will she go to jail?   Haha, no. > How much will the fine be?   Guessing, somewhere between €200 and €1000. Probably payable to a charity that the police will specify. > Should she get a lawyer?   Would cost more than it's worth. I wouldn't bother.   > Will she have to go to court?   No. She's already signed an admission of guilt to the police (the second form you mention), so there's nothing to be decided by a court. Instead the case will go through the paperwork system and a standard fine will be issued.   > Should she contact the Korean embassy?   If it'll give you some comfort, but it probably wouldn't help other than that.   > her visa ends Mid Aug. what if this isn't solved till then?   It probably will be. If not, if she ever returns to Germany then she'll be stopped at immigration and ordered to pay the outstanding fine. If the fine is issued before she leaves, and she attempts to leave without paying, she'll probably be stopped on the way out.   If the case is not closed before leaving, make sure to go to the airport very early on departure day to allow for an extra couple of hours in case of questioning. Otherwise you risk missing the flight.   In summary: Don't panic. Budget for a fine. Take it as a life lesson, and don't do it again.

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Fuck me, you people are insufferable. All of you.

     

There is no such thing as "avoid".   There is only pay, or not pay.   Your choice on which.   Whatever you decide, you have to live with the consequences.   In my opinion the consequences of paying are worse than not paying.   But people's tolerance levels for risk and rebellion are all different.

I updated the certificate earlier this morning, but forgot to restart the web server for it to take effect. It's fixed now.

I've lived in Germany since 1998 and have never paid GEZ or Rundfunkbeitrag. In 2014 I applied for German citizenship and it was granted a year later. During the application process I was receiving all sorts of Festsetzungsbescheide and Mahnungen, and I still do, but it's never been a problem.   Technically, unpaid Rundfunkbeitrag is not "Schuld". This is because there is no contact. You've never signed anything saying you'll pay and then not paid. It's the same reason you can not get a SCHUFA entry over it. SCHUFA is only for debt, but unpaid TV charges don't count as debt.

Summary Post here if you're refusing to pay the German TV license fee (Rundfunkbeitrag). Let us know what letters you've received and how you've responded (if at all). Give and receive support from other fellow "Rundfunk-refuseniks". Click the "Follow this" button top right to receive updates via email.   ======================================== Background info On January 1, 2013, Germany introduced a new TV license fee system called the "Rundfunkbeitrag". This system requires that all households paid €17.98 per month to fund the public broadcasting services (i.e. TV channels ARD and ZDF, public radio stations, and associated websites). On April 1, 2015 the fee was reduced to €17.50 per month. The fee is not dependent on actual TV or radio usage. Rather, every household must pay one flat fee, even if they don't own a TV or radio. The rationale for this system is as follows: Public broadcasting services are considered of benefit to society as a whole. Even if someone doesn't watch TV, or own a TV, that someone still lives in a society that is better informed, better connected, and better "culturally protected" because of public services. Everyone benefits, even if only indirectly, and therefore everyone should help fund it.   The fee is collected separately from income tax because this is considered a way to give public broadcasting companies their independence. This is designed to prevent broadcasters from becoming government propaganda machines.   The fee is flat, €17.50 for all households regardless of how many people live there, because this makes it easier to manage and collect. It reduces overhead costs and keeps the system simple and streamlined. The fee is also considered low enough that it shouldn't be a burden to anyone. If someone can afford a roof over their head, then they can afford a "little" extra for public broadcasting. The above arguments are controversial, but those are the arguments given. There are numerous counter arguments. One of them is as follows: Publicly-funded broadcasting services made sense, to a certain extent, back in the 20th century. In recent decades however, the internet has superseded TV and radio. Nowadays people no longer need public TV and radio services in order to stay informed, connected, and "culturally protected" (whatever that means). Indeed, with the advent of social networking and independent news sites the general populace is now much better informed and connected than ever before. The younger generation in particular spend far more time social networking and sharing news via their smart phone than they do sat on the couch watching TV. And over the coming years the trend will continue to grow. Therefore public broadcasting is an anachronism that deserves to be phased out. There's no easy way to get the system abolished though, because the media companies, government, and legal system are all in cahoots to maintain the status quo. This leaves refusal to pay as the only realistic option for the average person. If sufficient numbers of people refuse then eventually the system will collapse. Currently only a very small percentage are making a stand, but if those small numbers support each other, then gradually their ranks will grow. Eventually a tipping point will be reached and the system will cave in on itself. This is sure to happen eventually, but it could take anything from five to fifty years. In the meantime, threatening letters and debt collection notices are nothing to be scared of, they're just something to be dealt with. There are a small but growing number of German-language websites and communities that offer support. These include the following: gez-boykott.de - discussion forum, also: Facebook, Google+ zahlungsstreik.net - petition and information network, also: Twitter Avaaz petition - 405,000+ signatures Open petition - 135,000+ signatures gez-abschaffen.de - one man's independent objection campaign blog rundfunkbeitrag.blogspot.de - another objector's blog petra-timmermann.de/GEZ - and another Facebook groups: GEZ-Gier 2013 (25k+ members) and GEZ-Zwangsabgabe -nein Danke (5k+ members) This here thread you're reading now aims to be a center of English-language support. Click the "Follow this" button top right to receive updates via email.   ======================================== Purpose of this thread This thread below is for people who have made a decision not to pay the TV license fee. We won't discuss here whether the Rundfunkbeitrag is justified or not, that is for the other thread: New TV license fee (formerly GEZ) Instead, this thread will be used exclusively to share info about threatening letters received and how we're dealing with them. If you are actively resisting against this system, post up your current status and what action (or non-action) you're taking. Keep us updated with the latest letters received and any other action that may have been taken against you. Click the "Follow this" button top right to receive updates via email.

The price of bitcoin is surging and recently crossed €20. Anyone here own any?  

With increasing numbers of members now posting out of Berlin, it is high time that we found a moderator who is based there.   The moderation team already represents Munich, Frankfurt, Nuremberg, Tokyo, and Cookham. But not Berlin.   So, if anyone's interested in taking on such a role, or if you'd like to suggest anyone, either post here or drop me a PM.   The only requirements are that you be a native English-speaker, live in Berlin, and spend a fair bit of time on this forum.   Note that moderators are volunteers. This has two important consequences. One, you don't get paid, obviously. That's the bad part. Two, because you're not paid there is no obligation or commitment expected of you. That's the good part. It doesn't matter how much or how little moderation you do. Indeed, even if you decide not to log in to the forum for a two or three weeks, that's fine. Of course we prefer moderators who are able to log in most days, but you don't have to. Similarly if you see a bit of spam that needs removing, or if a forum member is being an idiot and needs dealing with, then you have the option to do something about it, but you don't have to.

When posting a weblink it's good to write useful stuff into the link text.   For example, the following style is bad:     See what I did there?   Firstly, helpful link texts improve human readability. If a link text just says "this thread" then the reader doesn't necessarily know what they're getting before they click the link. Most web users are impatient and short on time. They don't want to click a link if there's a chance it might not be interesting to them. So help your fellow users by giving them a hint what is behind your link. This will also attract more people to click your link. With unhelpful text most people won't bother clicking, they'll skip right over it instead.   Secondly, helpful link texts improve machine readability. Search engines such as Google are better able to determine the relevance of a target page if there are useful keywords present in the link text. Not that most people would care about this, but still, I mention it because it's true.

Note that there are two separate features that are frequently confused with one another: Ignore user's posts - applies only to public posts on the forum PM block list - applies only to personal messages