Update 2014-07-03: Högsta förvaltningsdomstolen slog fast att innehavare av en dator med internetuppkoppling inte behöver betala tv-avgift. Nu har Radiotjänst beslutat att återbetala tv-avgifter som man krävt in av hushåll med datorer
I have tried to avoid being overly critical in my blog, but it is extremely hard when I see the new legal interpretation from Radiotjänst. Radiotjänst collects a TV-license fee on behalf of the three public broadcasters. Current law stipulates that the fee should be paid by every household containing a TV set, and possession of such a device must be reported to Radiotjänst. But, since February 2013 Radiotjänst have changed their interpretation to include any smart phone, laptop computer, surf tablet or personal computer connected to the Internet, to be considered a TV-set and thereby requires payment of the TV-license fee. I am not sure if Radiotjänst have consider the following:
- There are an estimated 2,405,518,376 Internet users today; http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm. All these users are in possession of a TV set or its computer equivalence, and they are connected to the Internet. These Internet users fulfill the above legal stipulations, should they then pay the fee? If not, what further legal requirements distinguish those who must pay their fee, and those who does not? Or is this about the estimated 8,397,900 Swedish Internet users (92.5% of the population); http://www.internetworldstats.com/eu/se.htm, as defined under the nationality principle, or residents under the resident principle and as such subjects under Swedish law?
- Internet broadcasted Swedish TV and Radio can be consumed abroad, so users who are not subjects under Swedish law can therefore enjoy the programming free of charge. Does that imply that Swedish citizens currently working or has their residence abroad and abiding to another country’s laws are not legally required to pay the fee?
- If Swedish citizens/residents cannot be presented with an option not to consume Swedish TV and Radio, then this is in fact nothing more than an aggressive and mandatory taxation on computers and Internet. This is very unfortunate due to many years of political initiatives to expand and encourage computer literacy and internet connectivity. This taxation is counter-productive and goes in a opposite direction of many other countries, like the US with their Internet Tax Freedom Act.
- This taxation can lead to a multitude of tax-avoidance protests, ideas and concepts, which might lead to monitoring of citizens/residents internet capabilities and habits. If so, then this would be a serious infringement on our personal integrity and create another precedent for a tighter government control.
Internet and access to information should be kept free. Much of this problem could be solved by setting up a login-based pay service for Swedish TV/Radio broadcasting. So, those who are interested can pay for what they consume. Radiotjänst have most likely concluded that such an approach would not pay their bills. This is not an Internet problem, it is an antiquated and expensive Public Service that cannot keep up with competition and have lost the public support to finance their operations. If the government decide to keep the Public Broadcasters, then why not be perfectly honest about that and finance them through the State Tax? That would be a mandatory tax, no need for policing of computers and internet, no need for Radiotjänst and at least 150 Million crowns in annual savings.
