@The_Picard_Maneuver Here in the UK, sure we get Spam mail but there’s red labels and stuff for really important mail from the government and things and most of the time it’s just telling you to pay for a TV licence that you wouldn’t use as you don’t pay for live TV and just watch YouTube.
If there was a way to highlight official government mail, spam mailers would use it to fool people into thinking it’s something important. I get tons of spam that looks like something official.
We have specially coloured envelopes for government mail in the Netherlands, I’ve never gotten any spam trying to imitate them (and we do accept spam mail, we could also put a sticker on the mailbox to reject it, but my partner likes them).
Sounds like it would be really easy to put those people in jail for federal offense, yeah? Also if we can print unique, hard-to-duplicate cash, we could do the same for envelope accents, right?
@Semi_Hemi_Demigod They have a few things such as a return address to a government building on the envelope along with the envelope actually being a certain type that I haven’t seen with any other mail.
Sorry, I meant that if such a policy were implemented in the USA it would be abused by spammers. There would be a Supreme Court case where the spammers win because they used a slightly different color and it would suck.
It already is. Spammers use the tear-off style envelopes used for your checks or tax returns and many other ‘secure’ mail. The Republican party near me sent out mailers that looked like traffic bills saying how you may have to turn in your firearms (they were pretending it was from the local Democratic party). It’s already fucked here.
@bizzle A TV licence is meant to pay for our public TV services (that you get through an Arial ‘for free’) You pay a subscription to pay for things such as the BBC and ITV both TV and Radio.
It is pretty much a joke at this point as they often try and come around and claim the lamest of reasons why you still need to pay for a TV Licence.
- “You have a TV”
- “It could still access the BBC”
- “Your phone could connect to the BBC”
It is just a bullshit way of a company trying to take money.
Same as hospitals. The BBC, done well, is a great public asset. It is one of the most effective engines of British soft power. It has to be a reliable source of information. It innovates television by not prioritising a profit motive.
Laugh it up. Yes that’s all gone to shit now, but what we’ve got is still better than not having it (source: have lived long term in countries without state broadcasting), and hopefully it can excel at its core functions one day. Again: that’s what we hope for with our other public services that were wrecked by the Tories.
Let me go back to front in the queue. Why should you not use it and pay for it?
Community outreach. People living near or far from you would benefit from getting BBC news at their houses. Imagine a Ukrainian family took refuge in your country but they still just had a government tent or shack. But even if they’re on the border of nowhere they can get the BBC on satellite.
I’m a motherfucking American and the first thing I check in the morning is BBC
@The_Picard_Maneuver Here in the UK, sure we get Spam mail but there’s red labels and stuff for really important mail from the government and things and most of the time it’s just telling you to pay for a TV licence that you wouldn’t use as you don’t pay for live TV and just watch YouTube.
If there was a way to highlight official government mail, spam mailers would use it to fool people into thinking it’s something important. I get tons of spam that looks like something official.
We have specially coloured envelopes for government mail in the Netherlands, I’ve never gotten any spam trying to imitate them (and we do accept spam mail, we could also put a sticker on the mailbox to reject it, but my partner likes them).
Sounds like it would be really easy to put those people in jail for federal offense, yeah? Also if we can print unique, hard-to-duplicate cash, we could do the same for envelope accents, right?
@Semi_Hemi_Demigod They have a few things such as a return address to a government building on the envelope along with the envelope actually being a certain type that I haven’t seen with any other mail.
Sorry, I meant that if such a policy were implemented in the USA it would be abused by spammers. There would be a Supreme Court case where the spammers win because they used a slightly different color and it would suck.
We’re a young democracy and not very good at it.
It already is. Spammers use the tear-off style envelopes used for your checks or tax returns and many other ‘secure’ mail. The Republican party near me sent out mailers that looked like traffic bills saying how you may have to turn in your firearms (they were pretending it was from the local Democratic party). It’s already fucked here.
You really need a license to watch TV? I always thought that was a joke.
@bizzle A TV licence is meant to pay for our public TV services (that you get through an Arial ‘for free’) You pay a subscription to pay for things such as the BBC and ITV both TV and Radio.
It is pretty much a joke at this point as they often try and come around and claim the lamest of reasons why you still need to pay for a TV Licence.
- “You have a TV”
- “It could still access the BBC”
- “Your phone could connect to the BBC”
It is just a bullshit way of a company trying to take money.
Or their incredibly shitty way of collecting your taxes that should just be paid yearly to support BBC. Fuck I’m American and I’d pay taxes for BBC.
@MutilationWave why should I pay for something I don’t like support or use
Same as hospitals. The BBC, done well, is a great public asset. It is one of the most effective engines of British soft power. It has to be a reliable source of information. It innovates television by not prioritising a profit motive.
Laugh it up. Yes that’s all gone to shit now, but what we’ve got is still better than not having it (source: have lived long term in countries without state broadcasting), and hopefully it can excel at its core functions one day. Again: that’s what we hope for with our other public services that were wrecked by the Tories.
Let me go back to front in the queue. Why should you not use it and pay for it?
Community outreach. People living near or far from you would benefit from getting BBC news at their houses. Imagine a Ukrainian family took refuge in your country but they still just had a government tent or shack. But even if they’re on the border of nowhere they can get the BBC on satellite.
I’m a motherfucking American and the first thing I check in the morning is BBC
@MutilationWave Well I don’t often enough the BBC is spreading misinformation & hatred about people like me so i’m not interested.
I’m interested in what misinformation they’re spreading.
Similar in Germany. The “we are done playing, ignore this and go to jail” mail will be sent in a special yellow envelope most of the time.