BBC Card

[declan]

Can anyone tell me how to go about getting a free BBC card in the ROI?
Why won't Sky give them to customers in Ireland?
They have lost millions over this stupidity because people who want the British terrestial channels in Ireland simply switch over to Irish Multichannel where these are available.

 

[zansi]

BBC viewing cards are available to UK addresses only, by tel-:

08702 43000 Giving UK address, postcode and the system details of your box.


Zansi.

 

[2old4this]

BBC cards are not made available to the Republic of Ireland for the same reason they aren't to any other non-UK country in Europe: the BBC do not in general have distribution rights for anything other than the United Kingdom.

It's the same reason that lies behind all of the country-specific restrictions in satellite program distrubution worldwide.

But I agree with you that it is a stupid situation. In fact, it's legally very questionbable too given that there are European laws designed specifically to outlaw any restrictions on the free movement of goods and services within Europe. The only reasons the providers get away with it are:
(a) they hide behind a loophole which allows a step-out on the free-trade laws where protection of copyrighted material is otherwise endangered
( no-one has had the clout/money/stamina to challenge them successfully in a court of law. Recent attempts were made in Austria but failed there, and would probably fail elsewhere too given the legal resources the likes of Murdoch and Kirch can draw on.

2old

 

[rolfw]

I take your point Declan about the restrictions being stupid, but i can't see how they've lost millions by failing to give away free cards, particularly when as you say, they obviously sell their material to the multi channel setup.

As Zansi implies, you only need to know someone in the UK to get a free card anyway.

rolf

 

[seyok]

Thank you for giving the phone number to call for free BBC Viewing cards. Just to let you know that the number is not complete. Will appreciate if you could get the complete number for us.

Thank you once again.

BBC viewing cards are available to UK addresses only, by tel-:

08702 43000 Giving UK address, postcode and the system details of your box.


Zansi.

 

[zansi]

Thank you for giving the phone number to call for free BBC Viewing cards. Just to let you know that the number is not complete. Will appreciate if you could get the complete number for us.

Thank you once again.

The BBC programmes are no longer encrypted, since June 2003 they have been "free to air" and therefore no card needed.