Seriously, how can they let this guy keep his job?

Not having paid the licence for a measly year is nothing. The Swedish scandals were about much longer periods of time.

Remember that this guy started paying his licence before he became chairman of the board and long before the Swedish scandal broke out. So it’s not like someone is chairman of the board and at the same time isn’t paying the licence.

This scandal is so small, it’s nothing. In Finland we always need to have similar scandals as there are in Sweden, so we blow things out of proportion and start nitpicking about details.

There was also this story about MPs who pay the licence for their family home but who started paying tv licence for their city apartment only after the Swedish scandal broke out. Paying for one of two addresses is pretty good, I don’t think they have any cause to feel ashamed.

When the TV license cops bust into your door and catch you with a TV, I wonder if the “Oh I just forgot to pay for the past year” excuse would work?

This just seems like another situation in Finland where we’ll give our officials a pass and sweep everything under the rug to pretend like it never happened. “No problems here in Finland, move along, nothing to see here.”

Paying for one of two addresses is pretty good, I don’t think they have any cause to feel ashamed.

Hey, rules are rules. If you’re rich enough to own two houses, I think you can pay the damn tax for both.

Phil, there’s a difference between tv licence inspectors and cops. Not letting the inspectors in seems to work for many.

You ask how, Phil? It’s simple. That’s how things go at a certain corporate level. You screw up and you keep your job and enjoy the benefits of bonuses and option schemes. After a couple of years you will leave with a nice golden handshake. That’s how it goes.

BTW I also don’t think this is a big issue. It’s just very awkward.

Phil, there’s a difference between tv licence inspectors and cops.

Most of them are cops who come to your door.

Not letting the inspectors in seems to work for many.

And others force their way inside. I’ve heard too many stories from people. Wedging their foot inbetween the door seems to be a common tactic. Or maybe it’s just a huge conspiracy and all these people are lying to me. And if they’re not even allowed to come inside, what’s the point of the inspections if they’re not allowed to inspect anything??

That’s how things go at a certain corporate level. You screw up and you keep your job and enjoy the benefits of bonuses and option schemes. After a couple of years you will leave with a nice golden handshake. That’s how it goes.

He’s essentially stealing from his own company. I’d like to see how my company would deal with executives stealing from their own company.

Phil is right. If the rules say that you need two licenses then you need two to be in complience. Excusing it away that they paid for one is wrong. Look, they did the work to pay for the first one, all they needed to do was send in twice as much money. So really, that is proof that they were intentionally trying to defraud the Government out of tax revenue. (It’s not like they didn’t pay VAT on the second TV when they bought it.)

Just imagine if the US had a TV tax and it came out that Bush forgot to pay sometime back in the ’70′s for one year. That would hound him everywhere to this day. Politicians should pay more attention to following the rules, especially the unpopular ones.

Time to deep-six this “unpopular” tax. But, then again, I suppose it’s fairer than making everyone pay, indirectly. I don’t have a TV, so that wouldn’t be good for me.

Then again, screw it. Why can’t we all just have satellite dishes and forget about all this crap?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsEGT_uvCxw

#9 was from me

“Just imagine if the US had a TV tax and it came out that Bush forgot to pay sometime back in the ’70’s for one year. That would hound him everywhere to this day.”

That reminds me, Hannu Olkinuora should claim that he has just accepted Jesus, and that makes everything allright.

I don’t want to argue about the rights and wrongs of the TV licence system, but I would like to point out that your headline contradicts the substance of the article. The guy did pay his licence in April – before he took on the YLE post, and well before public interest in these kinds of things broke out after the recent Swedish elections.

Kimmo, exactly, so he’s not stealing from his own company. The conflict of interest would arise only if he would not pay his licence while he is chairman of the board. He decided to pay the licence before he got his post, not at the very moment he got it.

Phil: “Most of them are cops who come to your door.”

This isn’t a fact. I thought so too, but I actually asked a friend of mine, who’s a policeman, and not one of his work buddies did TV licence inspecting, and as far as he knew, in the past it was more common that a policeman worked as a TV licence inspector than it is today. So that’s old information.

“”"I don’t want to argue about the rights and wrongs of the TV licence system, but I would like to point out that your headline contradicts the substance of the article. The guy did pay his licence in April – before he took on the YLE post, and well before public interest in these kinds of things broke out after the recent Swedish elections.”"”

Why bother Phil with petty things like words, the truth, facts and other inconvenience?

And others force their way inside. I’ve heard too many stories from people.

——–
Stop speaking to liars. Inspectors have _no_ right to do anything else then knock on your door and ask if you have a tv, unless they see TV. If they force their way in you can just call the cops and sue. so simple.

Do the inspectors get a reward for each person they catch?

what a shame! and then some of the locals are so surprised that foreigners don’t wanna pay for something they don’t watch.

Even those who watch and work there don’t wanna pay for it:)

yo people, wake up ! This guy admitted not paying his TV license and he works for YLE for crissake. Even if he missed the deadline by a microsecond, he represents YLE and therefore should follow by example. His excuse is completely lame just like the others. Rules and rules and if the inspectors and YLE are so fired up about enforcing this, well, guess what, they should lead by example and follow the rules too

yo people, wake up ! This guy admitted not paying his TV license and he works for YLE for crissake. Even if he missed the deadline by a microsecond, he represents YLE and therefore should follow by example. His excuse is completely lame just like the others. Rules are rules and if the inspectors and YLE are so fired up about enforcing this, well, guess what, they should lead by example and follow the rules too

Do the inspectors get a reward for each person they catch?

Yes, but it’s determined by weight. For example, a little old lady is worth less than a big fat guy.

There is a big difference between a mistake, which this case clearly is, and the systematic failure to pay that was the case with the Swedish ministers (esp. the sacked culture minister).

Also, I have never heard of a tv fee inspector putting his foot in the door or forceing his or herself into someone’s house. That is not allowed and I think people have been trying to scare you.

I don’t understand arguments against paying it. It is a fee mandated in law. You must pay it, not watching Yle’s programmes regularly is not an excuse. You don’t necessarily use the universities or health system, but this does not give you the right to withhold from paying income taxes or VAT. It is an odd argument to suggest that you can pick and choose which taxes you pay and do not pay, that is surely the route to a complete breakdown of a functioning society.

I’m a bit bothered by how so many databases maintained by public entities are, well, public. It really isn’t any of my business who own the cars in the parking lot across the street, how much money various hockey players made in 2005, or whether local members of parliament have TV licenses, yet apparently this is all stuff I’m entitled to know.

Oh, and the title of the post really should be, “Guy who later went on to be the chairman of Yle was a bit tardy with paying his license fee over a year ago” – but I guess accuracy doesn’t sell.

“It is an odd argument to suggest that you can pick and choose which taxes you pay and do not pay, that is surely the route to a complete breakdown of a functioning society.”

I don’t know how I should respond to this. Surely we can vote for candidates who are willing to work towards less goverment spending and influence, and lower taxes, or no? That’s how we can legally choose which taxes to pay.

And let me point out that not everything that’s publically funded is necessary for society to function. For instance people have been arguing for years against the excessive costs of public administration in Finland. There are way too many bureaucrats in this country, but sadly, getting rid of them won’t be easy, since they vote for the people who gave them their jobs.

Seriously, the amount of public money that is going to waste in this country is horrendous.

“Seriously, the amount of public money that is going to waste in this country is horrendous.”

goverment -> government. And I should say taxpayer money and not public money.

Obviously Olkinuora has been careless with his TV licence payments. However, there was one point in the original HS article that was left out of the English version.

It says that Olkinuora (or his wife) had paid their licence fee to Finland until the end of year 2001 even if they had moved to Sweden in 1999.

http://www.hs.fi/kotimaa/artikkeli/Ylen+hallituksen+puheenjohtajalta+puuttui+televisiolupa/1135222760780

For the offences of this calibre, I think it’s enough, if their boss gives them a notification and tells them to straighten up and pay the license. Of course, their TV-sets should be confiscated, as that happens to the rest of us also, if we get caught.

(Just do it the North-Karelian way and put that scheisse B&W mökki-TV on stairs, when nimismies is coming to pick it up)

Speaking of moral degradation, Susan Kuronen revealed having candle light sauna baths with Matti Vanhanen and goodness gracious, those two are not even married.

O tempores O mores…

I wouldn’t be so concerned about this executive having missed a payment, as it seems he has a plausible explanation. But it seems strange that so many parliamentarians who went years without paying are still keeping their seats in parliament.

I think the much-vaunted corruption index rarely takes into account actual malfeasance; perhaps a more accurate take on such indexes is that they measure who has the most gullible populations when it comes to trust in their parliaments.

@28 “seems he has a plausible explanation”… yeah right, works for him… I have lots of plausible explanations to give in case I get busted by the inspectors. I wonder if they are going to be as undestanding.

I don’t know how I should respond to this. Surely we can vote for candidates who are willing to work towards less goverment spending and influence, and lower taxes, or no? That’s how we can legally choose which taxes to pay.

Yes, I completely agree with this. This is how we influence this kind of thing.

That is why the Swedish ministers non payment of the Swedish tv fee was even more hypocritical, as Moderates tradtionally believe in the rule of law. So, that in particular the now former Culture Minister had more or less advocated breaking it in the past was a serious problem.

I thought so too, but I actually asked a friend of mine, who’s a policeman, and not one of his work buddies did TV licence inspecting, and as far as he knew, in the past it was more common that a policeman worked as a TV licence inspector than it is today.

I read this on an old YLE article, and if you goto TV-Maksu’s website it says a lot of them are cops. I think there’s only like 40-50 TV-cops in the country, out of the thousands? of regular cops. It’s quite likely your police buddy wouldn’t know any TV-cops.

but I would like to point out that your headline contradicts the substance of the article.

Good point, I’ll change “doesn’t” to “didn’t”.

This guy admitted not paying his TV license and he works for YLE for crissake

Did the media bust him? Or did he admit to this first? Or did he know the media would eventually bust him, so he thought it would ease the pain if he admitted first?

I don’t understand arguments against paying it. It is a fee mandated in law. You must pay it, not watching Yle’s programmes regularly is not an excuse. You don’t necessarily use the universities or health system, but this does not give you the right to withhold from paying income taxes or VAT

I’d rather they just take it out of the budget like they do for most state-run services. People say, “Well the TV-system is fair to those who don’t have a TV.” Well, there’s a million state-run services I have never and will never use, is it fair that I don’t have to pay for those?

I’d rather they just take it out of the budget like they do for most state-run services. People say, “Well the TV-system is fair to those who don’t have a TV.” Well, there’s a million state-run services I have never and will never use, is it fair that I don’t have to pay for those?
Although I sort of see where you are coming from, services such as health services you are insured to use. It’s a different form of payment, as you never know when you might need it. Indeed, if you manage to stay incredibly healthy, you could I suppose just about be lucky enough to never need to use it. You may be one of the few people who never will use the Finnish education system (I am making an assumption all your schooling took place before you moved here), yet the whole of society benefits from an educated populice.

On the other hand, tv and radio is strictly speaking not essential. So, I suppose it is fair that Yle is funded by a tv fee which is fair to those who do not wish to have a tv apparatus.

Incidentally, Yleisradio is not run by the state. That makes it sound like an organ such Chinese state-controlled television. In this way, the seperately collected tv-fee by a seperate fee collection agency (rather than for example Verohallinto/Skatteförvaltningen) is also a reinforcement of that seperation of control.

JG—

It’s the story of Finland for people to avoid all these fees. I think it started during Swedish—and then Russian—rule, when fur traders would evade the fee collectors from either empire. Wasn’t it something like 1-pelt collected for each 4-trapped ?

The amount was high. And when we gained independence, we suddenly had the ability to impose the same high fees on ourselves. Joy!

I can see benefit to having public television. And if our overall cost of living weren’t so high here in Finland—compared to the rest of Europe—then maybe people wouldn’t see TV fees as such a target for evasion. I mean, if our politicians evade the fee, then maybe we should conclude that there’s something fundamentally wrong.

Someone already mentioned the enormous size of our government. And we give-up such huge amounts of money from our incomes. To be sure, I don’t have a problem with funding our infrastructure, roads, parks, bike paths, etc. And I also don’t want poor people to go hungry.

But, I think much of what we pay just gets thrown into a big kettle, and then, who knows where it goes? I think it just goes to ensure that those in government can retain their power positions: The more money they control, the more power they can wield. It’s job security.

So, my conclusion is that the government should take much less of our money, so that we can develop a more robust economy and bring down prices for everything—and, let’s not forget that lower prices not only benefit private consumers, like you and me, but also public institutions like schools; they could get everything from desks, paint, stationary, etc. at lower prices.

I’m basing this on comparisons with other countries in which I’ve lived. There’s a big difference—in fact, I’ve sat in buses and trams, here in Finland, and overheard people talking about their experiences living abroad and how they suddenly experience price shock and a reduced standard of living when returning to Finland. It’s like their money isn’t worth anything here.

With a more robust economy, maybe TV-fees won’t represent such a large portion of our incomes—in fact, maybe we could even scrap the expensive system altogether—after all, I’m sure all the administrative costs and TV cops aren’t cheap—and be European trend-setters, by going to a donations-based system. NPR seems to be doing pretty well in that regard.

@36,
I think we could do with greater accountability regarding what money is spent on. Stupid ideas should be aborted in time; once something has been established and has beneficiaries, it is almost impossible to kill it. The people who do not benefit do not care, but the ones who do will massacre you in the election if you threaten to take their toys away. The really expensive things are things like health and education and old age, and there’s little we can do about those. Not wasting money on BS would leave more available for the necessities.

Kristian,

A donation based Yleisradio would never work. We have only 5,2 million people. It is hard enough to fund it with the tv fee with such a small population. I know of no European country that has gone down this route. I think the Dutch public service broadcasting has gone to Phil’s suggested way of funding (through general taxes rather than a specific fee for tv use) and others use adverts (often together with tv fee though).

I think it is a lifestyle choice. You can live in a country with less taxes and thus have more of your income to spend how you choose. But, those countries also tend to have greater inequality etc than Finland or the other Nordic countries for that matter. We have chosen to build our societies more equally, and that does cost more to do. I would rather live here though, I know that. That said, I think you are right, reforms do need to happen and somethings could be far more efficient. I would agree that just throwing money at something is not the only solution.

JG—

There are many possibilities for funding public TV. For example, the government could pay part, and private donors could pay the other part. Percentage-wise, it could be 30/70, 50/50, 70/30, etc. Anything is possible.

But, even if it were to remain fully public, then it’s really our overall financial picture that we should consider—specifically, the percentage of our net income goes to paying for it and also the relative price of consumer goods in general. Is it right that a low-income person pays the same amount as a high earner?

And let’s be clear about something: The idea that we have an egalitarian and classless society is a myth. Just imagine how many company executives get paid hundreds-of-thousand—even millions—of Euros each year. Sure, over half goes to taxes, but they’ve still got hundreds-of-thousands—even millions—left over.

Look at the private yachts in Helsinki’s harbors. Many are worth a-quarter-million or a half-million. Some are even worth several million. At Suomenlinna, there’s a 25-meter sailboat that is being built; it’s probably worth nearly a million. I’ve even been invited to some nice summer homes, also worth high amounts.

Ok, fine, there’s nothing we can do about it; if we revert to communism, then dynamic people will leave Finland, like they always have in the past. Finland’s loss. So, in my opinion, these people should be given the opportunity to donate money for public-TV. But, do we give them an incentive to do so?

No. Instead, the rest of us ‘poor’ folks—and yes, we are poor; I recently lived in eastern Europe and I know ‘poor’ when I see it—hold onto these ideas of egalitarianism. For example, the egalitarian Finnish kiosk clerk pays the same 200-e/year as the Finnish yacht owner with a vacation home on the southern coast of Spain.

Yes, our politicians keep us equal all right—but more specifically, they keep us regular folks equal by making us shoulder the burden of a constricted economy.

Well, we certainly can’t revert to communism as we were never communist in the first place. I also agree, society is not class less or completely equal. That is self clear… but I do think, that whilst things have changed, Finnish society is more equal and less of a gap between rich and poor compared to some others. Of course, it continues to change.

I think if you have direct government funding of public service television, you lose part of the independence of the organisation, even if just in perception. As I said before, I also think that our country is too small to be able to get any meaningful amount of donations.

It’s the story of Finland for people to avoid all these fees.

I would bet dollars to donuts [1] that people in Finland do less to avoid these fees than people in most other countries that have them.

The idea that we have an egalitarian and classless society is a myth.

Sure. The idea that we have an egalitarian society with small class differences compared to the vast majority of other countries, on the other hand, is true.

[1] I would not actually bet dollars to donuts.

Heh! Finland of the 70′s and 80′s was about as communistic as Europe could possibly be during those timeperiods. The main difference between us and the Soviet Union proper, was that we didn’t put a wall around ourselves.

And there were plenty of rich Finns back then too. However, they didn’t live here in Finland. Instead, other countries benefited from their talents and revenue. We’ve gotten better, but I think we’re still in the same self-defeating mindset.

Do your homework.

Inspectors are from “viestintävirasto” municipal communication agency or whatever you may call it. Nothing to do with the police.

I’m sorry, I lived in Finland in 1970s and 1980s, and I don’t recall it being a communist state. There seem to be privately owned businesses all over the place, and I distinctly remember buying things in shops without coupons. I also remember voting, several times, in several elections for a political party which is was communist then and is not today, and was sometimes (in fact most of the time) even in the government, which also was not communist.

Yeah, well I remember when I’d come back from abroad, everyone would place their orders—jeans, power tools, appliances, etc. And then, with suitcases filled with booty, I’d try to evade the suspicious eye of Finnish customs. It was all worth the hassle though, because buying from abroad was about half the price of getting the same items here in Finland…..if they were even available here to begin with. And that takes into account the weak Finmark.

I don’t mean to pick-on any specific political party, but we’ve always had cheesy governments here in Finland. I suppose they had good intentions, but I always felt that they made life difficult for the common people. But, with the Soviet Union as an ideological role model, it’s not hard to see why Finland followed such a path.

And I guess that’s why about half my family left Finland. It just wasn’t worth all the petty games.

So, JG, does that mean we were true communists? Maybe not, but neither were the Russians nor any of the eastern satellites. Technically speaking, none ever made the full transition from socialism to communism. Therefore, we can only speak in terms of degrees. And when comparing Finland with the rest of Europe—and the western hemisphere (barring Cuba) for that matter—Finland came closer to approaching the theoretical idea of communism than any of the others. We paid for it then, and we’re still paying for it now.

Ho much does tv maksu cost to run, as against dismantling it and putting it on tax.

JG wrote: “On the other hand, tv and radio is strictly speaking not essential. So, I suppose it is fair that Yle is funded by a tv fee which is fair to those who do not wish to have a tv apparatus.”

Ah.. but the nice social aunties believe that it is important and if you are on low income you can get digibox and maybe more according to recent plans.

I’m a bit bothered by how so many databases maintained by public entities are, well, public.

The tax records save you the trouble and money of buying a Ferrari and that diamond-encrusted gold Rolex. You can just instruct everyone you meet to send an SMS.

“I lived in Finland in 1970s and 1980s, and I don’t recall it being a communist state.”

I don’t either and I started already in the 60′s. Dad defined communist as a person, who takes away my toys and lets only the party elite to play with them.

I think the whole post-war period up to the 80′s was slow discard of the democratorship system of government, started in Winter War and with Kekkonen serving most of the period as the chief democrator.

I don’t either and I started already in the 60’s. Dad defined communist as a person, who takes away my toys and lets only the party elite to play with them.

But Antti, isn’t that how Finland was back then?

I don’t know about the party elite, but the “takes away my toys” part described Finland pretty well. Of course, we’re just using “toys” as a metaphor here. And it still holds true today—maybe not as extreme as in the past, but there’s still a big difference between Finland and other European countries.

Kristian (#45): Many of the aspects of the Finland of yesteryear you tell about were not actually signs of socialism but of protectionism; what with the regulations on movement of capital and goods, price control etc. The Finland of the postwar, and yes, Kekkonen era was hell bent on creating a strong national economy, emphasis on “national”. The fact that it was, by necessity, heavily connected with the Soviet economy does not make this side of the Finnish economic politics any more “communist” than any other the European protectionist countries of the postwar years. You have to remember that after the war most European countries even in the Western camp held the Soviets (and Allied war time economy) as the role model when it came to protecting and directing your home market. After the economic catastrophes of the 1930s firm market control was universally seen as the wave of the future.

Finland become the wealthy country it was by the 80s by way of protectionist capital accumulation mostly at the expence of the economically inept Soviets. The majority of the economic and a big part of the political elite would have naturally wanted only free trade with the west, but alas, politically that was impossible as long as the SU was alive. You say the Finnish governments were cheesy, but most what they ever did was try to get politically and economically closer to the West, constantly taking small steps towards Nordic cooperation, the European common market etc. It is no coincidence that Finland started membership negotiations with the EC as soon as the SU was dead and buried. In fact, as soon as it politically could, the Finnish government took the country to a crash course of economic liberalisation in the beginning of the 90s.

If the Finnish governments would really have wanted the country to be socialist, they could well have isolated Finland economically in 1991 and we could be down there with Albania and co. That is if this was the socialist hellhole you are trying to paint it as being. But in reality Finland has followed quite closely the general trends of western economic development since 1945; the difference to, say Belgium and Denmark being that the development was slowed down by the involuntary attachment to the Soviet economic system for several decades.

Basically, since I pay for the 3g network already for my Iphone can I use it on my laptop somehow? Maybe I have to purchase a network card, or blutooth to the iphone? Please let me know if you have any info or ideas.

________________
unlock iphone

If I were to buy an IPhone, what would my monthly bill be? I am currently paying part of the family add-a-line feature, so it’s not too expensive. Can I do add-a-line with the IPhone, or is it different? To have the internet on the IPhone, is it much more expensive?
best forex software unlock iphone

I am interested in doing some trading with FOREX TRADING have any of you ever dealt with them?
best forex software

I would like to start trading in foreign exchange, and I am looking for tips on how to get started with forex trading? I have looked at some of the trading platforms out there, and they seem quite complex and intimidating. Your help would be appreciated.
best forex software

I want to know in your opinion what your thoughts are on my question here as to wether or not it is possible to break Ł1 million very rapidly and how long it would take starting with a few hundred pounds trading spot forex? Also, are there any recorded cases of anybody ever doing such a thing? Best answer earns 5 stars. Thanks.
best forex software

OMG! – How can people like Bernaldo Bicoy – who is a twice convicted child molestor make bail?

This punk forged himself as a lawyer and business investor consultant to win trust of adolescents. Out of all people, the gov released him home?

It’s sad but the streets of Lake Forest are hazardous. Is it possible to appeal?

guenstig reisen nach mallorca und spanien reise buchen, Reisen Mallorca und familienurlaub all inclusive,Stadtfuehrer Mallorca

Big Trouble in Little China

. .

Read reviews, previews and comment about the most popular ps3 games. You will be able to know when will new ps3 games release. Ask questions and give answers and much much more. Visit us! Talk about ps3 games then a question risis in our minds that when are the upcoming ps3 games are releasing and what title will be released. to know about this better please visit our web site.