Cable Channels Hit With $2M Fine Over Movie Trailer

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You have to admit that this is kinda funny. Who knew you couldn't use the Emergency Alert System tones in a trailer?

Remember the movie “Olympus Has Fallen,” the 2013 popcorn flick about a guerrilla assault on the White House that is foiled by a heroic Secret Service agent? No? Viacom, NBCUniversal and ESPN are likely to remember it for years to come, after getting slapped with proposed fines of nearly $2 million for airing a film trailer that used the Emergency Alert System tones.
 
I never noticed it, and they saturated TV with trailers for that movie. The mandatory weekly tests they do has trained me to just ignore it anyway. In the event of a real emergency I'll probably die.
 
So these channels were paid to air the trailer, then get slapped with a huge fine. Nice.:D
 
Don't worry, they'll just pass the fines on to Netflix, then us, then back to Netflix again. :D
 
I can totally understand why they would be fined for it. Obviously, the people who handle the content of the channels should know better than this.

To quote the FCC: “Frivolous, casual, or other uses of EAS Tones for reasons other than their defined purpose can desensitize viewers to the tones and thereby undermine the effectiveness of the system in the event of an actual emergency,”

Cry wolf too many times and people quit listening. Once the wolf does come, then people aren't listening and they get hurt.
 
I can totally understand why they would be fined for it. Obviously, the people who handle the content of the channels should know better than this.

To quote the FCC: “Frivolous, casual, or other uses of EAS Tones for reasons other than their defined purpose can desensitize viewers to the tones and thereby undermine the effectiveness of the system in the event of an actual emergency,”

Cry wolf too many times and people quit listening. Once the wolf does come, then people aren't listening and they get hurt.

While I can understand the fine, the whole thing about undermining the system is pretty funny. TV and radio have so many tests that most people I know just ignore it when does come on.
 
Reminds me, last year in the middle of the night, my phone (iphone) went off for an Amber alert (I'm not to keen on them being able to send me that).

Woke me and the girlfriend up, scared the ever living hell out of us. Don't think I've ever woken up so fast in my life from a dead sleep.
 
How can the FCC say (repeatedly) that cable isn't under their authority, and then claim to have the authority to fine a cable-only network?

I can understand fining NBC, because they are a broadcast station, but I don't know of any place where ESPN is broadcast over the air (unless they count DirecTV satellite as "broadcast")
 
Reminds me, last year in the middle of the night, my phone (iphone) went off for an Amber alert (I'm not to keen on them being able to send me that).

Woke me and the girlfriend up, scared the ever living hell out of us. Don't think I've ever woken up so fast in my life from a dead sleep.

Same thing happened to my wife and I....

Turned that shit off right away after that. I am pretty sure we both went airborne out of bed it scared us so bad. LOL
 
Tornado siren going off in the middle of the day. Are we under attack or is it just a test?

It's been a test every time so far, but of these days I might get bombed while still in my underwear eating ice cream......
 
Lol...desensitize... Any time they come on when I'm watching TV(which is rare anymore anyway) I usually promptly mute until its over. :)
 
Not watching television has left me out of the loop for commercials. And upcoming movies, not that I ever go to the theaters given you pay $8 for matinee anymore...

But, yeah, using the emergency alert tones for a commercial? That's just a great way to get the commercial edited at additional cost and to cough up more cash to the government for pulling a boner.
 
I never noticed it, and they saturated TV with trailers for that movie. The mandatory weekly tests they do has trained me to just ignore it anyway. In the event of a real emergency I'll probably die.

So you don't ever wait for the "This is just a test" part before going about your business? Because I've been in a house full of people when a test happened and everybody stopped until that part.
 
While I can understand the fine, the whole thing about undermining the system is pretty funny. TV and radio have so many tests that most people I know just ignore it when does come on.

Fully agreed. When I hear the annoying tones I press mute as fast as I can.
 
So you don't ever wait for the "This is just a test" part before going about your business? Because I've been in a house full of people when a test happened and everybody stopped until that part.
Nope, completely ignore it at this point. I have a weather radio that is far less annoying and actually alerts me when something is going on. Fortunately at this point I've almost cut the cable and don't ever get those obnoxious tests.

As for what the one guy posted about his iPhone. If that shit ever happened to me, that phone would get traded in so damn fast. Advantage android... don't have to put up with that garbage.
 
Reminds me, last year in the middle of the night, my phone (iphone) went off for an Amber alert (I'm not to keen on them being able to send me that).

Woke me and the girlfriend up, scared the ever living hell out of us. Don't think I've ever woken up so fast in my life from a dead sleep.

Happened to us in the last couple of weeks. Turned out it was fake and I turned off the Amber alert feature on my phone.
 
How can the FCC say (repeatedly) that cable isn't under their authority, and then claim to have the authority to fine a cable-only network?

I can understand fining NBC, because they are a broadcast station, but I don't know of any place where ESPN is broadcast over the air (unless they count DirecTV satellite as "broadcast")

No, they've said they can't go after them for indecency purposes, because you are basically saying you are aware of what you are getting for paying for service but they can go after cable networks for violating other laws. Some of those laws are on different forms of indecency or abuse such as the use of alert sounds.

There's been a law against the use of the sounds for things other than emergencies since 1994, but other than the mentioned ones, and TBS allegedly there were several violations on the local level too. It was starting to become a major problem.
 
I'm changing my ringtone and notification sounds to the EAS tone just to piss the FCC off.
 
I hardly ever hear them anymore since I dont watch a lot of TV but I did always stop and listen until it said it was a test. if they ever say 'godzilla will make landfall in xxx minutes' I want to be ready.
 
So... why are they going after the channels instead of the company that made the trailer?
 
Funny/sad thing, is for those of you who actually saw the movie, there is no need to have the emergency broadcast system tones in that trailer, the movie is all "internal" they don't need to announce to the whole country that the white house has been taken over by terrorists in a most laughable way.
 
I can totally understand why they would be fined for it. Obviously, the people who handle the content of the channels should know better than this.

To quote the FCC: “Frivolous, casual, or other uses of EAS Tones for reasons other than their defined purpose can desensitize viewers to the tones and thereby undermine the effectiveness of the system in the event of an actual emergency,”

Cry wolf too many times and people quit listening. Once the wolf does come, then people aren't listening and they get hurt.

An intelligent person would have designed the EAS system so that it requires some sort of authentication before any alert actually airs. As it is, it is laughably insecure and there have been numerous incidents of both deliberate and accidental false alarms (including several instances of "Zombie Attacks" being reported).
 
An intelligent person would have designed the EAS system so that it requires some sort of authentication before any alert actually airs. As it is, it is laughably insecure and there have been numerous incidents of both deliberate and accidental false alarms (including several instances of "Zombie Attacks" being reported).

Part of the reason for that is because some parts of the system are over 50 years old, and even though a national test of the system a few years back largely failed not much have been done to fix it because no one wants to spend the money.
 
The new DVR and receivers I have from Cox interrupt live shows and recorded content with EAS messages. I was confused the first time it happened with a recorded show. It's extremely annoying but I'm sure once Spring rolls around I may not mind so much. Damn Tornados

But yeah I wish the FCC would go after radio commercials with sirens in them. That is damn annoying while driving then trying to figure out where the ambulance is but there isn't one!
 
So... why are they going after the channels instead of the company that made the trailer?

ultimately the license holder is responsible in broadcast, so I guess it's not much different in cable

anyway they won't pay the fine, nobody ever pays FCC fines for the most part
 
Part of the reason for that is because some parts of the system are over 50 years old, and even though a national test of the system a few years back largely failed not much have been done to fix it because no one wants to spend the money.

The EAS is not 50 years old. You are thinking of the Emergency Broadcast System (EBS) which used teletypes and required manual operator intervention (http://youtu.be/jxmCYGdmcNs?t=13m49s). The Emergency Alert System has only been around since 1997.
 
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