I think it should be decriminalised and made a civil offence, much like utilities if they are not paid.

Quote from a director of the BBC in the Guardian this morning:

"The key question we need to think about is how do you persuade people to pay for something you can't stop them receiving. "

I LOVE the BBC for all it's idiosyncratic ways. Overall the quality of programming is fantastic compared to many other stations. It's acknowledged around the world for its quality news reporting among other programmes - ok I do think some issues go unreported and the bias sometimes shows these days but overall I would tend to believe the news reporting from the Beeb more than any other station. Their Live coverage of Ukraine was pretty good.  

Try living abroad and note the difference and quality of TV in your host country, I can assure you from what I've seen over the years it's generally abysmal.  Even the US PBS is way behind on its programming and buys progs from the Beeb!