What kind of person pays NHK fees?

[Taro Toporific]

Why would any FG ever pay NHK fees? sucker

NHK user fees: Should they stay or should they go?
The Yomiuri Shimbun; "Televiews" / May 24
...Televiews has looked at the issue before and found it a rather murky one. The law states that TV owners should pay the NHK fees but as with many Japanese laws there is no clear penalty for noncompliance.
... there are two legal views out there. First, since there is no concrete legal contract between TV purchasers and NHK there is no need to pay and, second, putting the TV receiver in place is tantamount to initiating a contract and people have the responsibility to pay. The magazine says the legal interpretation has never been clearly spelled out because no one has ever been prosecuted for not paying NHK.

[Neo-Rio]

I don't doubt that NHK knows this and that is why they are worse than the Jehovah's witnesses in knocking on people's doors for their money.

In my place, there is no TV... only a TV tuner inside my PC which is invisible to anyone at NHK anyway.... and this trend has taken off as well in many other households.

At my place, my GF and I are waiting for NHK to show up and bang on our door, so she can lie to them about not having a TV etc. etc.

I can't help but think that NHK has to spend money on sending these people around the place to get cash. probably more than they get back from people who pay.

Only an IDIOT would pay NHK!

[GuyJean]

I can't help but think that NHK has to spend money on sending these people around the place to get cash. probably more than they get back from people who pay!

I think they work for commission. That's why they're more persistant than the JWs..

I'm SURE a lot of Japanese pay NHK. Most Japanes are old with little energy to fight NHK scalpers. Plus, the old generation doesn't mind getting reamed; they think their 'donation' helps the country as a whole; keeping Japan Inc. a well oiled machine.. IMO.

GJ

[Taro Toporific]

[kamome]

sucker

....uh, let's suspend disbelief for a moment and assume, hypothetically of course, that someone has set up a direct debit from their bank account with NHK to avoid having the NHK guy come ringing every Sunday morning. How would that hypothetical sucker terminate said relationship?

[cstaylor]

Close your bank account and open another one.

[Steve Bildermann]

Close your bank account and open another one.

Never waste a bank account!!

Just have no money in it (like many of the major corporations of Japan)

[kamome]

Would calling the bank and asking to have the monthly debit terminated work?

[Big Booger]

I pay cause I really don't give a shit about the 1700 yen.. plus it gives me a chance to make them practice English HEHEHE

Last time I invited the guy in, gave him some tea, and asked him to explain it all again to me about the fee, etc..

He pulled out a pamplet, and I screened it.. then I asked him if it would be possible to only pay half, since I only watch half of the 6 channels LOL

It was a hoot..
he couldn't understand it at all, and he just kept pointing to the pamplet.

[ramchop]

Never waste a bank account!!

I've just been gifted 40,000 yen by the kind souls at the Shinjuku ward office for allowing them the priviledge of hosting my two youngsters in their happy town.

Here's a question. Will they know when we leave the country? And if not how do I access this sporadic source of funding while back home?

[Taro Toporific]

I pay cause I really don't give a shit about the 1700 yen.. plus it gives me a chance to make them practice English HEHEHE

IC cards to be necessary to view NHK digital TV programs TOKYO, Sept. 14 Kyodo - (19 :45) Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK) is considering making its terrestrial and broadcast satellite (BS) digital TV programs available only to viewers with special integrated circuit (IC) cards from next April, NHK officials said Sunday.

[AssKissinger]

I don't pay nothin'! I never paid NHK once since I've been here and they's long since given up. Nobody even knocks on my door any more. Last time the NHK guy came he said it was the law. I told him to come back with the police and arrest me then. He stood around snivelling like the stupid cunt he is. That's when I start pulling out one English word they all know from the movies. Fuck. As in, "Get the fuck off my doorstep before I kick your fucking head in!" They catch on fast enough. I don't pay those Nazi neighborhood committee Maoist China wannabe bitches nothin' either. They thought sending some 90-year-old baba would guilt me into paying but that old hag got the same treatment as the rest of 'em. And the biggest coup of all. I work in a public school and don't pay PTA. I said, "I work here. That means YOU pay ME." Believe me, if you're forceful enough you don't have to pay.

[Taro Toporific]

(IHT/Asahi: September 15, 2003)
... NHK says it has no plans to scramble its BS digital broadcasts and does not plan to use the new system to force nonpayers to cough up.
But a 2001 government report on plans for broadcast deregulation says, ``Scrambling of NHK's BS digital broadcasts should be considered.''

Plans for digital TV lagging
japantoday.com / 18 Sept
"There's no way we can phase out analog broadcasting by 2011," proclaims the article. "It's time for the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications; the TV networks; and the electronics manufacturers to come out and tell the truth!"

This December, digital TV broadcasts via terrestrial, as opposed to satellite, relays, will commence in Japan's three major metropolitan areas. But can Japan switch over to the new technology nationwide by December 2011, at which time analog broadcasting will cease forever?

...broadcasting magazine GALAC, which went on sale from Sept 6. Shukan Shincho (Sept 25) reports ... a "farce on a national scale."

....The special feature in GALAC purports to outline 10 reasons why the current plan to introduce digital broadcasting is doomed to failure.

"Japan currently has an estimated 100 million TV receivers," it points out. "For people to switch over to digital in the less than eight years remaining, they will have to replace existing sets at the rate of 13 million a year. But the current domestic market only moves about 10 million units per year, so it appears mathematically impossible for all households to be ready for digital by Dec 24, 2011."...

[GomiGirl]

I don't pay nothin'! I never paid NHK once since I've been here and they's long since given up. Nobody even knocks on my door any more. Last time the NHK guy came he said it was the law. I told him to come back with the police and arrest me then. He stood around snivelling like the stupid cunt he is. That's when I start pulling out one English word they all know from the movies. Fuck. As in, "Get the fuck off my doorstep before I kick your fucking head in!" They catch on fast enough. I don't pay those Nazi neighborhood committee Maoist China wannabe bitches nothin' either. They thought sending some 90-year-old baba would guilt me into paying but that old hag got the same treatment as the rest of 'em. And the biggest coup of all. I work in a public school and don't pay PTA. I said, "I work here. That means YOU pay ME." Believe me, if you're forceful enough you don't have to pay.

Oh you big tough man!!

Really there is no need to be rude.. the guy is just doing his job. I get out of paying it too, but at least I was polite about it.

Does it make you feel big, strong and important to be rude to people in your community?? Congratulations!!

[AssKissinger]

Fuck her or his job. People who come to MY door and interrupt my day with a bullshit arrogant attitude that I owe them money deserve what they get.

[American Oyaji]

consider the name,,,,,

consider the source

[Shibuya Me]

Can NHK detect if you have a television? I heard there is a device in televisions which can be detected by NHK to prove you have a tv.

I agree, anyone comes to my door and begs me for money ends up paying me in emotions...I can make NHK people cry!

NHK guys need to rethink their career paths.....

[Big Booger]

I think if you use it, you should pay for it.

You would have to in your respective countries, or your service would be shut off..

[AssKissinger]

I think if you use it, you should pay for it.

You would have to in your respective countries, or your service would be shut off..

Bullshit! They don't cut off PBS or NPR if you don't contribute. If NHK wants to become a pay TV channel that's fine. They can block it out. Then they're not public TV anymore. They'll be just like SKY or whatever. If SKY was automatically available on my TV and then a rep came around demanding cash I'd tell him to go eat big boogers as well.

[Taro Toporific]

I think if you use it, you should pay for it.

You would have to in your respective countries, or your service would be shut off..

Not in the Land-of-the-Free (tm)

[Taro Toporific]

8O

Can NHK detect if you have a television? I heard there is a device in televisions which can be detected by NHK to prove you have a tv.

In Great Britain they have "dectector vans" cruising the street.

However, here in Japan the use the "shame" of not having a current NHK sticker on your door.

[Big Booger]

They don't cut off PBS or NPR if you don't contribute.

Dude, I don't know what planet you live on, but where I am from, you no pay your cable bill, cable man comes out with big knife and cuts your service with one slice...

PBS is a public broadcasting service, but the funny thing is it is broadcasted over cable * which is a paid for service....

yeah you can wire up an antenna of some sort.. and get questionable reception, depending on where you live. That much I will give you.

I pay for it because my wife uses it.. though we use our satellite more often..
I get good reception and access to their channels..
I will be the first to admit much of the crap on J-TV is horrible.. but I think if you use it, you should pay.

One other thing, without donations to PBS, that show would crumble.. so in essence someone pays for it.. the same way it is with NHK.

[cstaylor]

n essence someone pays for it.. the same way it is with NHK.

IIRC, NHK is paid for by taxpayers funds. Did this change?

[Big Booger]

NHK FEES

According to the broadcasting law (unless you can prove that you do not view NHK programming) if you own a television then you are required to pay a user's fee to NHK (Japan's public broadcasting network). Payment can be made to the NHK representative when they come door to door every two months, or you can pay by direct debit from your bank account.Automatic debit can be less expensive and avoids the slight risk of a fraudulent representative. You can also save money by paying for a year or half a year at a time.

NHK is unusual among public broadcasters in that it is independent from both government and corporate sponsors, being supported almost entirely by its audiences, who pay receiving fees. Each household in Japan in possession of a TV set must pay NHK receiving fees, which provide approximately 97% of its annual budget. As of May 1998, 36,406,000 households were paying NHK receiving fees.

That is what I found out about NHK funding.

[Taro Toporific]

That is what I found out about NHK funding.

There is no PUBLIC Japanese law covering this and the 'law' here is NHK's Charter Law--- it's a mission statement. It is not enforcable any more than the NGO license of Japan's Red Cross.

http://www.zone81.com/arch_news/1027670546356

NHK recently has gotten into trouble for staging fake documentaries and falsely threatening viewers to pay or face stiff penalties (penalties which have never been implemented).

"They don't even come to collect themselves, they send collectors. I asked through the inter-phone once, "do you work for NHK?" and he replied no."

Although the law is hazy, NHK indeed does not have the right to force people to pay because "they have televisions," and NHK is not part of the government. Which leads to the question of whether a private network can charge for their services in Japan. (Zone81.com)


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Tokyo rants and raves: Pay Per View

http://metropolis.japantoday.com/tokyorantsravesarchive299/281/tokyorantsravesinc.htm

[AssKissinger]

"I told them that if I am obligated to pay, send the police to my house and arrest me. Or stop the services to me like the gas and water companies do. Of course they have no response, they have no legal grounds to charge anybody, that's why." Barber states.

Damn, this guy says exactly what I said.

Last time the NHK guy came he said it was the law. I told him to come back with the police and arrest me then. He stood around snivelling like the stupid cunt he is.

[Big Booger]

I think if you watch it, you should have to pay for it. Nothing is free.

But I also think if you don't watch it, you don't have to pay for it.

I found the following article interesting:

http://www.japantoday.com/gidx/popvox60.html

[cstaylor]

Would it just be easier if NHK got the government to pass a "television tax" or something that's tacked onto the price of all TV's sold in Japan? That money could go straight to NHK, and they could save money by firing their collection companies.

[GomiGirl]

Would it just be easier if NHK got the government to pass a "television tax" or something that's tacked onto the price of all TV's sold in Japan? That money could go straight to NHK, and they could save money by firing their collection companies.

In Australia, there is an "Aunty" tax which is levied on your yearly income tax returns..

BTW Aunty is the nickname for the Australian ABC network. I used to watch it all the time.. now I am thinking of getting a dish to get ABC Asia Pacific.

[Big Booger]

Would it just be easier if NHK got the government to pass a "television tax" or something that's tacked onto the price of all TV's sold in Japan? That money could go straight to NHK, and they could save money by firing their collection companies.

Great idea.