US: Stop Congress from making iPod or VCRs illegal

[dogscoff]

Dogscoff, do I read you right? Did you mean that the BBC is ad-free because of this tax? Or am I just daydreaming?

That is correct. That is how the BBC is funded. They aren't allowed to advertise, and BBC tv/ radio have to be very careful about accidental product placement.
It may seem draconian to have detector vans prowling around, but it enables an unbiased, apolitical news and entertainment medium, and it's been a highly successful one since it's foundation [BIG_NUMBER] years ago. Many ppl rate British (and particularly the BBC's) news & entertainmnet programs as the best in the world. Even if you don't, you certainly have to rank it as being up there with the big boys. Personally I wouldn't ever trade it for the infomercials of american TV or the propaganda of Italian TV. Of course we still get american infomercials, but that's because subscription and advertising-funded channels are broadcast alongside the BBC channels.