I don't imagine that the UK has any sort of
computer reuse/donation
organizations, either. So the moment you quit using a PC, the police
show up on your doorstep to make sure that you won't give/sell the
system to anyone else?
I don't think I've ever seen a PC out with the garbage: they almost
certainly
wouldn't be accepted. You get to take them to the tip or give them away.
You could hang around the tip and hope, but you'd have to not fall foul
of some arbitrary rules (you certainly cannot take stuff away ... so
you'd
have to persuade someone to give you their PC right out of the car
boot).
As far as I know, the UK only requires that a
PC be licensed if it's used to view television content. Or has that
changed? And how can they tell?
I assume this is still tongue firmly in cheek. If not, then nothing is
licenced. If you purchase anything that is on the list of "might be
a TV" (such a a graphics card with TV Out) the retailer takes your name
and address. If the TV Licensing folks don't find that combination on
their database they send you a letter. If you don't reply they send you
a letter telling you that they'll show up on the doorstep. If you
happen to have purchased the item over the web and had it delivered to
your work address, they'll show up at your work address. If you happen
to be out (because, maybe it's lunchtime!), they'll leave you a note
saying (essentially) "See, we *did* call" and you never hear from them
again.
Oh, and you only need a licence to view content "live" (any contents,
not just BBC or even any UK channels, satellite stuff too ...) on
any device (TV, PC, phone, maybe even your fillings if you happen
to be an oddball synaesthete).
Antonio