A simple online framework for restricting content to license-fee payers
The TV Licensing Agency (a business unit of the BBC, operated by Capita), creates a web service which accepts web service requests over an SSL connection, with the client offering a certificate signed by a specific authority.
The certification authority in question shall be Ofcom, which will sign CSRs from licensed broadcasters (the BBC, ITV, Five, C4, Sky, etc.)
The web service will accept a surname, house number, postcode and TV License number, and return either a “Not found” or a “Found” response; in the case of the latter, the response shall include the expiry date of the license.
Broadcasters’ sites build TVL-authentication into their existing account management infrastructure. Simple four-box form covering the necessary details of the licensee (who may obviously be somebody different to the account holder); the account management infrastructure on the sites will periodically refresh their data with the TVLA to catch renewals.
To help prevent abuse, the broadcasters can count instances of many accounts using the same details and flag them for review.
Er, that’s it.
