TV licence and iPlayer

I wrote to my old MP a while ago:

I write referring to the government’s intention to close the "iPlayer loophole”, by widening the requirements for a TV licence.

According to the culture secretary John Whittingdale, "When the licence fee was invented, video on demand did not exist. And while the definition of television in the legislation covers live streaming, it does not require viewers to have a licence if they watch BBC programmes through the iPlayer even if it is just a few minutes after transmission.”

When the licence fee was invented, it was impossible to prevent freeloading, so the obvious solution was a compulsory telly licence. However, now it is certainly possible to prevent people consuming streaming media unless they’ve paid for it or can otherwise prove they’re entitled. There are technical solutions that the BBC could readily deploy.

Increasing the amount of legislation should always be the last resort. I would have hoped that a Conservative government instinctively understood that sort of thing!

And received some platitude about the technical solution not being deemed the best option (obviously).

Now when I open the Android iPlayer it tells me "you will soon need an account to watch iPlayer".

If they're introducing an account system, it nearly completely undermines the need for legislation. So is it going to be repealed?