Is it the same tone used in Canada for alerts? (It wouldn’t surprise me. Cheap bastards were too lazy to change the “Presidential Alert” string in my phone’s amber alert app.)
Just change the frequency a few Hz. Or the timing of the tones a few ms. At what point does it become okay to use?
If I try my best to scream “Beeeep…beeep…beep…beeeeep” on TV, would I be in trouble?
And why the hell am I getting unsolicited emergency messages on my phone? If it’s a “national emergency” shouldn’t I already be able to see the refugees flooding across the border?
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IIRC, Lou Reed claimed (emphasis added) that he had to be careful making Metal Machine Music, lest one or more of the sounds therein would set off the Emergency Broadcast System.
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I won’t be dying on this hill because I’m not broadcasting anywhere the FCC has regulatory jurisdiction.
Which brings me to the point: if it’s reasonable to ban the noise on broadcast TV, isn’t it reasonable to ban it elsewhere? Shouldn’t it apply to streaming, to YouTube, to speech in general?
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In theory, yes. But clearly the tech has surpassed the legislation…so give them some time?
It’s one of those things that will evolve and be voted on within Congress, and while we can sit here and roll our eyes and say “Well, that won’t help matters any!” the reality is, meh…like I said, I don’t see this as a slippery slope…YMMV.
“Hey Alexa, Order 55 Gallons of Anal Lube”
I’m fine with banning it. You shouldn’t use emergency signals in a non-emergency context.
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Is it time for the Boing Boing Christmas list already?
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Needs more Cloverfield 
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No, please. I grew up at the northern extent of tornado alley; the siren triggers mild PTSD from going off constantly in May and June back when the criteria was “funnel sighted.”
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Yelling " F I R E ! " ain’t covered by 1st Ammendment
This shouldn’t be either.
Though, having the tone tied to TRUMP the THREATENER and DOG WHISTLER has already tainted it’s reputation.
Ok.
How about the BBC closedown tone?
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I feel there is a great quip about gun control in here…
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Presidential Alert System
What a great idea. I wouldn’t want that creep to sneak up on me!
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Paging Negativland…
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“one of the most odious free speech decisions in the Court’s history … overturned over 40 years ago.”
more concisely:
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Fun, but only tangentially related, fact: in the Star Trek TOS episode “Space Seed”, the Botany Bay (Khan’s ship) was, in the original script, transmitting an automated SOS in Morse code. NBC was concerned about getting in trouble for broadcasting the distress signal over the air, so it was changed to CQ, an internationally recognized signal for “calling any station”.
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There’s no such specific thing as a “presidential alert tone” and so that’s not what they were fined for using improperly. The tones are part of the Emergency Alert System and FCC-licensed broadcasters are legally prohibited from misusing them. Use of the tones is legally limited to genuine alerts (or tests), and the broadcasters have all agreed to this already as they are a part of the EAS. Using them in frivolous ways is akin to broadcasting an SOS when there isn’t actually a life-threatening situation.
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