
The FCC Fined 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' 'The Walking Dead' for Use of Emergency Tones - LinuxBender
https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/16/media/jimmy-kimmel-live-walking-dead-fcc-fine/index.html
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dacohenii
You better believe it! EAS is no joke, and FCC is right to take a hard line.

Not very many people know that tone contains data. (It's pretty interesting,
really; see wiki link below.)

Broadcasters have an EAS box that listens for alert tones on other frequencies
and repeats it over the broadcast frequency (and others may listen, etc).
Among other things, the data in the tone affects how far it propagates, so if
someone plays a tone over the air that's set to propagate nationwide, it's
kind of a problem.

This isn't the first time this has happened, nor will it be the last.

Source: I worked on the engineering team at my college radio station (WSBF-FM
Clemson).

EAS header:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Alert_System#EAS_hea...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Alert_System#EAS_header)

~~~
schoen
Could people create a synthetic simulated EAS tone that contains no data and
couldn't be decoded by any EAS equipment, but that would still remind a human
viewer of the EAS tone? Would that be OK with the FCC, or are they also
concerned with human listeners recognizing the sound and believing that an
alert is imminent?

I worked on the engineering team for my high school radio station, but we
didn't learn much about how EAS worked, other than that it was mandatory and
was replacing EBS. :-)

~~~
rdtsc
> Could people create a synthetic simulated EAS tone that contains no data and
> couldn't be decoded by any EAS equipment,

Could, but probably shouldn't.

From FCC link [https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-settles-investigations-
misu...](https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-settles-investigations-misuse-
emergency-alert-tones)

> These rules aim to protect the integrity of the alert system by helping to
> avoid confusion when the tones are used, alert fatigue among listeners

I like the term "alert fatigue". Very descriptive and useful. Definitely a
good thing to avoid.

~~~
14
This reminded me of the illegal number [0]. People being told the number was
illegal so created flags that also represented the number. The neat thing was
that by making numbers illegal anything that can be used to represent those
numbers also becomes illegal. Like art work painted a certain way. Imaging
being told you can not paint a certain color pattern as it is illegal. 0:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_number](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_number)

~~~
dragonwriter
The term illegal number is like calling ink contraband because the use of ink
in a manner which communicates something illegal may itself be illegal.
Illegal numbers aren't illegal themselves. (And, anyway, by the theory
justifying calling them illegal, every configuration of matter is illegal,
since not only can any information be encoded in a number, but any information
can be encoded—by selecting the right encoding scheme—in any finite number,
and any configuration of matter can be represented by a number, so any
information can be, by choosing the right scheme, be encoded in any
configuration of matter.

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akeck
I also wish there was a rule preventing the use of motor vehicle horns and
emergency services siren sounds on any radio station. People are tired driving
home and may react unpredictably in dense traffic to sirens and horns on the
radio.

~~~
m463
I agree.

Also, I think there should be a law regarding the new electronic billboards,
especially at night. They should have a smooth transition over a period of say
10 seconds, instead of instantaneously changing / flashing and distracting
drivers.

~~~
kgwxd
They should be outlawed completely.

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parliament32
EAS tones were also used in the trailer for "Olympus Has Fallen" in 2014, the
networks were fined $1.9 million.

[https://web.archive.org/web/20141231204456/http://bigstory.a...](https://web.archive.org/web/20141231204456/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/false-
alarm-olympus-movie-ad-draws-19m-fine)

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walrus01
While on the topic of causing a "boy who cried wolf" problem with emergency
tones. All of the Amber alerts on cellular networks in Ontario are currently
being sent as "presidential alert" priority level.

On many phones' OSes you can disable audible amber alerts but not presidential
alerts. Some people in network engineering at the mobile network operators in
Canada screwed up big time.

[https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/amber-
alerts-1.5137889](https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/amber-alerts-1.5137889)

[https://globalnews.ca/news/5683167/amber-alert-
system/](https://globalnews.ca/news/5683167/amber-alert-system/)

Presidential alerts are only supposed to be used for absolute max priority
events, such as literally a nuclear missile attack, a fire storm that's about
to engulf a town, tsunami that will affect hundreds of thousands of people,
etc.

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philwelch
Canada doesn’t even have a President!

I believe in the US “Presidential alerts“ actually require approval from
POTUS. What’s the intended protocol in Canada?

~~~
theluketaylor
The entire process was badly bungled. The FCC designed a nicely tiered alert
system for mobile phones. The CRTC then adopted the same system but tossed out
all but the "Presidential" level. Then they delegated responsibility for what
to alert about to local authorities.

The end result is cops in Burlington sending end of the world alerts that
can't be silenced to people 1500 km and 15 hours away in Thunder Bay about
events that took place 2 hours ago. It's complete lunacy.

The tone is so disruptive and loud people are calling 911 to complain. It's so
jarring I'm shocked it hasn't resulted in fatal car collisions.

I've been in the states during amber alerts and even natural disaster warnings
and the process is simple and effective. The alerts come in and you action
them if warranted. Ours are literally the end of the world tone no matter
what.

~~~
garaetjjte
How those alerts work technically? They are SMS with special header or
entirely separate message type?

(eg. in Poland alerts are sent as plain old SMS)

~~~
jsjohnst
No, they are not done like SMS. Think of SMS like a normal IP packet, it has a
source and destination. Belaboring the analogy, the WEA messages are more
multicast packets.

WEA messages are encapsulated in Cellular Broadcast data (CB Data) payloads
which are then encapsulated in System Information Blocks (SIB12 specifically).
The way they are “routed” to your phone is by being near a tower in the
coverage area of the alert. Even if you weren’t in range of the tower when the
alert initially went off, you’ll still receive the message as soon as you are
within range of the tower(s) broadcasting it (assuming the alert hasn’t been
cleared). Each payload has the equivalent of a payload ID which is supposed to
prevent duplicate notification on your device of the same alert (but for
different reasons, isn’t always done right).

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crazygringo
This is the kind of thing it's easy to imagine anyone doing.

If you're a comedy or TV writer... it would probably never occur to you that
this aspect of real life is illegal to reproduce on TV. (It certainly wouldn't
occur to me.)

Seeing as this has happened to at least 3 prominent TV channels... it feels
like the failure here is at a much higher level -- kind of like, if an intern
wipes your prod database, it's not the intern's fault but the fault of your
processes that allowed it to even be a possibility.

So... when did the FCC pass this rule? How did it make sure every broadcaster
knew about it? Why didn't broadcasters add it to their content review process?
Where did the failure occur?

I mean, it's not like this was a cost/benefit calculation the broadcasters
made to try to get away with something -- it's obviously just out of sheer
ignorance. So are the lawyers at the broadcasters totally incompetent or not
being listened to... or is it the FCC's fault here for not ensuring the right
people at each and every broadcaster actually found out about it in the first
place and added it to their review processes?

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fluxsauce
I worked at a couple radio stations doing production and engineering. In
short, EAS is a legal requirement and not a joke. I have no doubt that
production staff did it out of ignorance and that nobody caught onto it until
it actually aired. I bet that control room's air turned blue as it aired.

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Wowfunhappy
These fines don't sound all that hefty?

A $395,000 fine would be absolutely devastating for even an abnormally wealthy
individual, but I've got to imagine that producing a professional television
show comes with much higher costs.

~~~
dahart
Jimmy Kimmel is an abnormally wealthy individual, and according to my 10
second lazy Google search, $400k is less than 2 weeks’ pay for him personally.
For the Kimmel show production company, or ABC, or Disney, it’s closer to
peanuts. I’ll speculate wildly that $400k might not even offset the Kimmel
show’s ad revenue for a single night.

Edit: another lazy Google search says a 30 second ad spot on Kimmel runs about
$20k. That means they hit $400k with ~10 minutes of commercial?
[https://www.adweek.com/tv-video/new-data-shows-just-how-
much...](https://www.adweek.com/tv-video/new-data-shows-just-how-much-
advertisers-are-paying-commercials-late-night-167634/)

~~~
brewdad
Which feels like an entirely appropriate fine given it's a first offense and
presumably wasn't done with malicious intent.

If Kimmel decides to go ahead and make this a regular segment and flaunt the
rules, I would expect the fines to multiply accordingly.

~~~
Wowfunhappy
I think the fine itself is perfectly appropriate for all the reasons you
listed. However, I don't understand why the article said the fine will "cost
parent company ABC dearly."

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paulpauper
I guess that would set the record for the most expensive royalty payment ever.
#2 The Beatles #1 Emergency broadcast sounds

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cush
This is a solid rule. Glad it's enforced so strictly.

