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posted by janrinok on Sunday October 27 2019, @09:52AM   Printer-friendly
from the do-they-pause-the-stream? dept.

Submitted via IRC for soylent_brown

US lawmakers want streaming services like Netflix to issue emergency alerts

A bipartisan bill reintroduced in the Senate by US Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai'i) and John Thune (R-S.D.) could lead to emergency alerts issued through online video and audio streaming services like Netflix and Spotify. The Senators originally introduced the bill last year after that infamous false missile alert text went out across Hawai'i. Called the Reliable Emergency Alert Distribution Improvement (READI) Act, it would prevent the same thing from happening while making sure that more people receive real and relevant alerts.

In addition to exploring ways on how alerts can be issued through streaming services, READI Act would eliminate the ability to opt out of receiving certain federal alerts, including ones for incoming missiles. Alerts issued by the President or by FEMA would also have to be repeated -- at the moment, it can only be played once on TV and radio stations. It would compel FEMA to prevent false alarms and would establish a reporting system for false alerts that the FCC can track, as well.

Senator Schatz said in a statement:

"When a missile alert went out across Hawai'i last year, some people never got the message on their phones, while others missed it on their TVs and radios. Even though it was a false alarm, the missile alert exposed real flaws in the way people receive emergency alerts. Our bill fixes a number of important problems with the system responsible for delivering emergency alerts. In a real emergency, these alerts can save lives so we have to do everything we can to get it right."


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  • (Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Sunday October 27 2019, @01:44PM (2 children)

    by bzipitidoo (4388) on Sunday October 27 2019, @01:44PM (#912413) Journal

    Yeah, I was particularly disgusted with an Amber Alert for a child last seen in a city 500 miles from my location. The alerts are getting as bad as car alarms.

    I have the wrong mindset for that sort of thing anyway. Some people are so sociable they know many of the other people randomly in the grocery store or restaurant at the same time they are. And, if someone famous happens to be there, they might notice. Not me. I don't pay much attention to other shoppers or restaurant patrons. It's possible that a very few times in my life, someone really famous was thinly disguised and sitting at a table next to me, and no one, let alone me, ever noticed.

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  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 27 2019, @04:09PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 27 2019, @04:09PM (#912444)

    I wish I had the American alert system up in Canada. Last year Canada just implemented the worst stupidly overzealous alert system in the world where every alert is presidential, and every amber alert is sent to everyone is a 800km radius. Many people even way out west in Saskatchewan (north of the Dakotas) get amber alerts sent from places in the east like Toronto (Syracuse NY area)-that's 2000km distance! It's such a stupid, stupid, stupid implementation.

    On top of that, We get at least THREE, and sometimes FOUR, alerts for the same single issue, all with the blaring presidential klaxon siren sound.
    The first "BLANG BLANG BLANG BLANG" alert is in English and it usually comes around 12AM-3AM. Nothing is more infuriating then being kicked out of deep REM sleep for something you can do nothing about.
    The second" BLANG BLANG BLANG BLANG" alert is in French and is sent 15-30 min later, which was just enough time for us to settle down from the first alert and begin to fall asleep again.
    The third "BLANG BLANG BLANG BLANG "alert is in English, and is sent out 1-2 hours after that saying alert has been cancelled.
    If you are really unlucky you'll get a fourth "BLANG BLANG BLANG BLANG" cancellation alert in French

    We call it the 'boy who cried wolf' alert system up here. Since implementation I've received something like a half dozen amber alerts, they all have been from a region 500km-800km away, none were local, and only one was critical. Most of the AA's were sent out because of miscommunication between ex-parents, or the mother wanted to get back at the father and made up a story saying he kidnapped the kids when he actually had legal custody of them. BTW, those women were never charged for making false claims to the police.

    The last alert a month ago was sent out something like 4 days after the kids went missing. Guess what? It was another situation where the father took them camping, and the mom knew about it.

    The irony is that these Canadian alerts are so invasive, and so unnecessarily if police would just do their job and take some time to check the story out first, that people turn off their phones at night so they wont be disturbed by some shit they can do nothing about that happened six hours away from them, so when a real emergency occurs, like tornado warnings or chemical plant on fire, people wont get the alert.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 28 2019, @12:40PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 28 2019, @12:40PM (#912759)

      Nothing is more infuriating then being kicked out of deep REM sleep for something you can do nothing about.

      As a parent with an infant... can confirm.