I think this is a great thing. The onus should be on the ISPs to decide how best to update their infrastructure. It's the content that sells the technology, and ultimately this will help pave the way for a much faster telecommunication network.

The BBC is something we should be proud of

Cliff Spab, Camden, UK

Have the BBC chickened out? They appear not to be streaming and it was supposed to start today 27/11/08. There is not a sausage mentioned on any of their web pages to explain why it is not available.

Stephen Bamforth, Pilley, South Yorkshire

i've never understood why the BBC can't have 2minutes of adverts between it's shows and/or sponsers which would raise a fair bit of money. I'd also be happy for a short ad break every half an hour in live shows if it meant the licence fee was cheaper. This would mean less money is lost non to payers

Scott, Wolverhampton, England

Being from the United States, I have never understood the concept of having to pay to pay for over the air television. Here broadcasters have always made their money by selling advertising time on their shows. The one exception is the Public Broadcasting Service, which is funded in part by viewers

Joe Cooter, Syracuse, NY, United States

Well done the BBC. I am a tech savvy person who travels a lot. I enjoy watching TV content when & where I want to because of the 'odd' hours I work.

I applaud the BBC for trying to make their content as easy for people to consume. Good on you for investing in this - it's what we want!

Colin, Durham, England

Scrap the licence fee and roll it up into general taxation. Given that the government decides what the licence fee can be, this will not lead to a loss of BBC impartiality. This will save all the money spent on enforcing something that will become increasingly unenforceable.

Steve, Watford,

As a resident in the USA, I cannot receive on-line BBC television broadcasts. I do gratefully listen to radio broadcasts, most of which can be heard here.

I would be willing to pay a license fee to view the TV broadcasts. What might it take to allow this, and to collect the fee?

Roderick Cowley, San Diego, USA

Cheer to BBC for the live streaming. Having studied in the UK and left UK for more than 15 years, watching it on the net is the best option though I have access to watch BBC World through Satelite Transmission but it lacks the local content.

I hope it will be a permanent feature on BBC Website

R Mohamed, KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia

Do I get this service in Belgium? Many of the BBC video's get blocked here.

Chris Gillibrand, Brussels, Belgium

If the BBC had anything decent and new to watch then it would be great, but they don't! BBC seem intent on trying as many ways as possible to waste our money.

Andy, Haywards Heath, uk

It is s obvious they will soon demand a TV license fee simply for any broadband access, regardless of actual use for watching TV. This will greatly increase the cost of net access, and the rich/poor information and IT divide. It needs stopping now. Keep live TV broadcast only.

Jenny, Manchester,

The BBC should start being a subscription service and stop the licence fee, we dont need the BBC really.

Miguel, Manchester,

Why do people think that the Govt. want to monitor all mobile and web traffic?? Stop being naive - this is why and only a small part of what that data will potentially be used for.

Also has nobody ever heard of proxy servers?

Simon, Southampton, UK

So are we to assume that next weeks most searched term on google will be "bbc abroad mask my ip address" as people in america, asia & europe look for ways to avoid the uk only security so that they can watch match of the day.

Dave Marsdin, Exeter,

Surely with the analogue switch off just around the corner, it should be easy to implement a system where you have to enter your 'TV Licence Password' into your digital TV/Computer whenever you want to watch live BBC content. The same idea could also be used for DAB digital radio.

David, Bath, UK

Net savvy people from abroad will circumvent the IP problem and get BBC content I am forced to pay for. Its about time the government realised that most Brits don't care about the Beeb anymore. Make them commercial then they can justify the huge salaries they pay out.

Andy F. , Birmingham,

It is s obvious they will soon demand a TV license fee simply for any broadband access, regardless of actual use for watching TV. This will greatly increase the cost of net access, and the rich/poor information and IT divide. It needs stopping now. Keep live TV broadcast only.

Jenny, Manchester,

Thats great news. The BBC is the only public service where the public actually gets value for money:

BBC1, 2, 3 and the excellent BBC4
Radio 1,2,3,4,5 live and the World Service
BBC News Channel
Local Radio (BBCLondon 94.9)
BBC website inc iPlayer

All for £11.61. We should all be proud.

Mazza, Cheshunt, UK

It's just another excuse, BBC and Government hand in hand, to raise a new form of tax for every computer and mobile phone user, whether you watch TV on those devices or not. You wait, there will soon be an increase in tax at point of sale. They are so damned transparent.

Paul Downes, Milton Keynes, UK

Great move, but they're right - enforcement (especially for mobile phone viewing) will be impossible. They should also abandon delayed release for US shows over here - much filesharing traffic these days is people watching US shows ahead of official UK release - and advert free.

Alex Kerr, London, UK

I would happily pay the licence fee to be able to watch the BBC online. BBC could make a tidy income if they allowed us ex-pats to subscribe to their online content. Seriously I'd pay a lot for such a service.

Zoe, Florida, USA

So the UK license fee payer will continue to pay for the greedy execs/presenters salaries, continue to recieve rubbish programming and suffer a slowdown of the internet in the UK as free international accesses increase. All in pursuit of revenues from the world wide "commercial" arm.

Matthew, Bucks, UK

This is nothing new! TVCatchup.com has been doing it for ages, and the quality is far better than anything else I've seen, including iPlayer.

John Davies, Paris, France

Surely it would be pretty easy to type your licence number into iplayer and access the content from any country or, similarly, not be able to use iplayer in the UK because you didn't have a licence. One licence number works for a maximum of five computers.

Tom S, London,

If the music industry can send bills to downloaders from file sharing sites, TV Licensing will have no problem in demanding payment of £139 from viewers using a computer to view Live Television - IP addresses are logged everywhere.

J Jenkins, York,

So we can now blame the Beeb for slow web connections and eventually higher broadband fees as more and more people watch TV on computers. At a time when HD is being introduced for TV's, why does the BBC feel the need to distribute relatively poor quality broadcasts on the web?

John Webster, Aylesbury, England

Does this mean that people in the UK will have to pay the License Fee if they have a computer??

Jim, Oldham, England

Watch out fools - they'll be lobbying the govt to tax your PC/mobile for receiving broadcasts...

M. O., London,

I've been able to watch BBC 1 on Zattoo for ages - it's free to download and has many other channels too.

Paula Hill, Montreux, Switzerland

But will it work if you are out of the UK? I hate that I cannot use the iPlayer because I do not live in the UK

Steve Williams, Nicosia, Cyprus

I've always paid the licence fee, even though I've come to resent it more & more.

From now on, though, I have no motive to continue. Let them find someone else to finance their ego trips and holidays

Michael, Wapping, UK