Marketing junk mail sent out by BBC and MPS
Dear Sir or Madam,
The BBC sends out a vast amount of junk mail to those who have decided not to take out a subscription for its services. This marketing junk mail is sent out monthly and is designed to intimidate and cause distress and harassment to those who have not taken out the BBC subscription.
Many councils are now encouraging a zero waste policy and one of the parts of such a policy is registering with the MPS http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/mpsr/mps_cho... to reduce or stop this sort of marketing junk mail.
Examples of the BBC's marketing junk mail are available at http://www.bbctvlicence.com
Does the BBC screen its marketing junk mail against the MPS list, so that those who do not wish to receive marketing junk mail are not bombarded with this rubbish?
Please note that "replies" which involve attachments in proprietary file formats are not acceptable. A reply which is not in plain text format will be deemed to be a refusal to answer.
Yours faithfully,
David Hansen
Dear Mr Hansen,
Thank you for your request for information under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000, about marketing junk mail sent out by BBC and MPS.
Your request was received on 4th February 2009. We will deal with your
request as promptly as possible, and at the latest within 20 working
days. If you have any queries about your request, please contact us at
the address below.
The reference number for your request is RFI20090252.
Kind regards
The Information Policy & Compliance Team
BBC Freedom of Information
Room 2252, BBC White City
201 Wood Lane
London W12 7TS
www.bbc.co.uk/foi
Email: [BBC request email]
Tel: 020 8008 2882
Fax: 020 8008 2398
Sorry Mr Hansen the above reference is the correct one for your request
for information.
Dear Mr Hansen
Please find attached the response to your request for information,
reference RFI20090251
<<RFI20090251 - final response.pdf>>
Yours sincerely
Rachel Hallett
BBC Information Policy and Compliance
Room 2252, White City
201 Wood Lane
London W12 7TS, UK
Website: [1]www.bbc.co.uk/foi
Email: [2]mailto:[BBC request email]
Tel: 020 8008 2883
Fax: 020 8008 2398
[3]http://www.bbc.co.uk
This e-mail (and any attachments) is confidential and may contain personal
views which are not the views of the BBC unless specifically stated.
If you have received it in error, please delete it from your system.
Do not use, copy or disclose the information in any way nor act in
reliance on it and notify the sender immediately.
Please note that the BBC monitors e-mails sent or received.
Further communication will signify your consent to this.
References
Visible links
1. file://www.bbc.co.uk/foi
2. mailto:[BBC request email]
3. http://www.bbc.co.uk/
Dear FOI Enquiries,
I refer you to the last paragraph of my enquiry. You have failed to comply with it and thus you have refused to answer my enquiry. Please conduct an internal review, within the timescales set out by the Information Commissioner.
Yours sincerely,
David Hansen
Dear Mr Hansen
Thank you for your email below. I apologise that we failed to note your
request for the response to be sent to you in plain text format, but we
are happy to do so - please see the response in full below.
This response has now been provided to you in the form you requested
within the 20 working days set out by the Act. We therefore do not
consider that we have refused to respond to your request. If you would
like us to carry out an internal review into our response, please
explain what aspect of the response you would like us to review.
Yours sincerely
Rachel Hallett
BBC Information Policy and Compliance
Room 2252, 2nd Floor, White City
201 Wood Lane
London W12 7TS, UK
Website: www.bbc.co.uk/foi
Email: mailto:[BBC request email]
Tel: 020 8008 2883
Fax: 020 8008 2398
David Hansen
[FOI #7685 email]
25 February 2009
Dear Mr Hansen,
Freedom of information request - RFI20090251
Thank you for your request received on 04 February 2009 seeking
information about the BBC. Your request is being dealt with under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 ("the Act").
In your message you asked the following:
The BBC sends out a vast amount of junk mail to those who have decided
not to take out a subscription for its services. This marketing junk
mail is sent out monthly and is designed to intimidate and cause
distress and harassment to those who have not taken out the BBC
subscription.
Many councils are now encouraging a zero waste policy and one of the
parts of such a policy is registering with the MPS
http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/mpsr/mps_cho... to reduce or stop
this sort of marketing junk mail.
Examples of the BBC's marketing junk mail are available at
http://www.bbctvlicence.com.
Does the BBC screen its marketing junk mail against the MPS list, so
that those who do not wish to receive marketing junk mail are not
bombarded with this rubbish?
BBC "junk mail"
I assume from your question you are referring to licence enforcement
letters which are sent by the BBC's agent, TV Licensing, to unlicensed
addresses. However, please contact me again if this is not the case.
I should highlight that "TV Licensing" is a trading name used by
companies contracted by the BBC to administer the collection of
television licence fees and enforcement of the television licensing
system. The majority of the administration of TV Licensing is contracted
to Capita Business Services Ltd (which undertakes the majority of the
administration of the TV Licensing system), with the administration of
our cash related payment schemes contracted to Revenues Management
Services Ltd (RMS). PayPoint Network Ltd and PayPoint Collections Ltd
are contracted to provide over-the-counter services. The marketing and
public relations activities are contracted to the AMV Consortium. The
consortium is made up of the following four companies: Abbott Mead
Vickers BBDO Ltd, Fishburn Hedges Boys Williams Limited, PHD Media
Limited and Proximity London Ltd. The BBC is a public authority in
respect of its television licensing functions and retains overall
responsibility.
I can confirm that the BBC does not screen TV Licensing's monthly
mailings against the list you refer to in your query. This is because
the Mailing Preference Service only exists, as you know, to enable
consumers to have their names and home addresses in the UK removed from
or added to direct mail lists which are in use in the UK. TV
Licensing's monthly letters, however, do not constitute "direct mail".
You may be aware that section 11 of the Data Protection Act provides
individuals with the right to prevent direct marketing. Section 11(3)
of that Act specifically defines direct marketing as "the communication
(by whatever means) of any advertising or marketing material which is
directed to particular individuals." TV Licensing's monthly mailings
are not captured by this definition, since they are not advertising or
marketing material.
As you may know, you need a TV Licence to use any television receiving
equipment such as a TV set, digital box, DVD or video recorder, PC,
laptop or mobile phone to watch or record television programmes as
they're being shown on TV. Section 363 of the Communications Act 2003
provides that it is an offence to install or use a TV receiver without a
TV Licence and for a person to possess or have a TV receiver under
his/her control which s/he knows or has reasonable grounds to believe
will be installed or used by another person without a TV Licence.
The BBC has a legal responsibility to enforce the TV Licensing regime.
This responsibility arises as a consequence of its powers to issue TV
Licences (section 364 of the Communications Act 2003) and to collect and
recover TV Licence fees (section 365 of the Communications Act 2003).
This responsibility was expressly confirmed by the Home Office in 1991,
the year in which the BBC became the statutory authority.
In accordance with this responsibility, TV Licensing's monthly mailings
are therefore sent to unlicensed properties listed on the TV Licensing
database in order to enquire as to whether a licence is needed and, if
so, to remind occupants of their legal requirements. They also provide
an opportunity for individuals to inform TV Licensing if they do not use
TV receiving equipment.
BBC "subscription"
As noted above, the TV Licence is a legal permission to install or use
television receiving equipment to watch or record television programmes,
as they are being shown on TV.
I should emphasise that the legal requirement to be licensed applies
regardless of which television channels a person receives or how those
channels are received. The licence fee is therefore not a
"subscription" payment for BBC services (or any other television
service), although licence fee revenue is used to fund the BBC.
The mailings sent by TV Licensing are just one mechanism used to enforce
the TV Licensing scheme. Visits also provide TV Licensing with
information on whether an address is unoccupied or derelict, or whether
there is no TV on the premises. TV Licensing also deploys detection
equipment to identify evaders, although only when other more
cost-effective routes have been exhausted.
Appeal rights
If you are not satisfied with this response you have the right to an
internal review by a BBC senior manager or legal adviser. Please contact
us at the address provided, explaining what you would like us to review
and including your reference number. If you are not satisfied with the
internal review, you can appeal to the Information Commissioner. The
contact details are: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House,
Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF, telephone 01625 545 700 or see
http://www.ico.gov.uk/
I hope this response is helpful.
Yours sincerely,
Natalie Saunderson
Policy Adviser
BBC TV Licensing Management Team
Dear FOI Enquiries,
"TV Licensing's monthly mailings are not captured by this definition, since they are not advertising or marketing material."
Wrong. They are advertising and marketing materials which advertise a subscription to the BBC's services. They are sent to addresses where the BBC think people have not taken up the BBC's offer.
If British Gas were to send advertising material to addresses every month, advertising material which threatens potential customers for not having a contract with British Gas, without checking with the MPS list they would find themselves being criticised. It appears that the BBC is so arrogant that it thinks itself above such things.
Yours sincerely,
David Hansen
A Willmore left an annotation ()
They also ignore the Telephone Preference Service:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/t...
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Nick Leaton left an annotation ()
Interesting on how they want their cake and to eat it.
Advertisement. a letter, email, picture, short film, song, etc. that tries to persuade people to buy a product or service, or a piece of text that tells people about a job, etc.
They are trying to persuade people to buy their product. That includes people who do not require their product.
It's an advert because when it comes to meaning, the OED is the one used in courts to define meaning.
So the question is how to stitch them up.