Farkle
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Yeah, that's all someone needs. Home theater sound system, at proper theater levels in the middle of an action movie, and that deafening emergency tone. Heh heh.
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Senate Wants Emergency Alerts to go Out Through Netflix, Spotify, etc.
gwarren007
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Doesn't the Senate have anything better to do? How about balancing the budget!
sirmonkey1985
[H]ard|DCer of the Month - July 2010
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as far as the mobile apps go i doubt they'll bother with those since cell tower location based emergency alerts already exist and national emergency alerts can't be disabled. as far as PC/tv apps go you can already be located by your IP address to the city you live in even if you repeatedly change it. so if the systems implemented properly it would just alert those IP addresses that are connected to the streaming service.
that being said all of that only matters if it's forced enabled.. emergency alert notifications are still a user enabled feature on cell phones(except national emergency alerts) so if it gets implemented into streaming services you'll most likely have the option to disable it. me personally i'll be enabling it if it becomes an option just due to the fact that i spend most of my time at home in my basement and have absolutely no idea wtf is going on outside unless i actually go out there since i don't watch cable/sat tv but usually have netflix or twitch streams running on my tv in my room.
lol yeah, i hope there's a "non blind" viewer option so that it's just an emergency alert scroller or window that pops up over what ever is playing and pauses the video.
Depends on your ISP if you can be tracked or not.
I work for a small ISP and am in charge of our entire plant based network (DSL/fiber).
For my network. Anyone that is still on PPPoE (which I which I could get them all reconfigured) comes from one large pool for all customers. So I have 5 towns that all share the same IP pool so all of them would report back as the location of our HQ. For DHCP I do have different blocks set aside for each town for most places so that 90% of the locations would show up correctly. However I do have 2 smaller deployments in other towns that feed off of another so people in those two areas would show up as being in a wrong town. However still close to them. Anyone that wants a static IP through my entire network all come from the same pool so all of those would show up as our HQ location. However again this is for a smaller ISP, and is because we setup our IPs to have a location like that otherwise everything would just show our HQ location. Before Frontier took over one city that overlaps with my coverage area even though we are in Indiana, the IPs that were being handed out by Verizon would make systems think you were in someplace like one of the Carolinas. Centurylink in this area all feeds back to one of their more major cities in the state and will make you appear to be in a city 140miles or over 3 hours drive away. So when you have a larger ISP your IP block might be one that is set aside for your city / town, or everyone could go back to a single range somewhere and all appear to be from a different city no where near you. I have noticed similar stuff when traveling that if I was to bring up something that it would want to think I was somewhere at times vastly different from where I actually was (more than 75 miles away).
Even if you could tracked perfectly by your IP, you are then assuming that they have a global database that stores every possible IP range for a town / city. That way if there is an major storm in central Nebraska they could select a region and then only the IPs for people in those regions would be selected and be sent the information.
To everyone bitching about frequent pointless alerts: You're describing a local problem, not a national one. Your local authorities aren't discriminating enough by location, severity, or both. I have my phone with me 24/7 and haven't seen an alert in months.
Alerts via streaming services are a good idea, if implemented correctly. Like others, though, I'm skeptical that they can correctly determine location by IP address. This is particularly true for those of us using VPNs.
Alerts via streaming services are a good idea, if implemented correctly. Like others, though, I'm skeptical that they can correctly determine location by IP address. This is particularly true for those of us using VPNs.
YeuEmMaiMai
Extremely [H]
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Time to come out of the AMPS cellular era, that system has been shut down for quite a while now....
(I jest, I jest)Time to come out of the AMPS cellular era, that system has been shut down for quite a while now....
Well, if someone would come out with a cell phone, which is nothing more than a cell phone, no data, no tracker built-in (I can epoxy the camera shut), and the ability to disable SMS, then I would, at least, look into it. The last time I was at the T-Mobile store, the flip phones they had were nothing more than small smart phones that folded. Bah.
I like the ability to dial anyone I need to dial using only my thumb and two button presses, in one hand. I like how it fits into any pocket I want to put it in. I like how it does not give away everything I do. I like how the battery charge lasts a week. When it dies, I'll probably just do without a cell phone. Just trying to make it last until I retire.
I really miss my last phone. Old Motorola analog flip phone. No camera even. It was awesome.
I am ok with this as long as the girl she is sleeping with is hot and I get to watch
I think the nokia brick relaunch is that phone? Pretty sure the base model comes without internet and without wi-fi. You need to buy the 3G model for that.
https://www.phonearena.com/phones/Nokia-3310_id10449
Unfortunately in this day and age balancing the budget doesn't get you re-elected. Passing useless bills about technology to make stupid voters think you are cool and hip is what it's all about.
I have my bedroom TV speakers powered by a Sonos amp and it started doing emergency alerts even with the zone off. Nothing like a 2 AM alert for shit happening 100's of miles away.
I completely disagree. It's a terrible idea.
The alerts should be implemented by ISP and Service Providers, not by content providers.
People aren't thinking this through very well.
By nature of being a cell this is impossible even for you current phone. The "no tracker built in" is the kicker. You will always be able to track a radio device and that aside I believe all cell chips have an on board GPS. The only option would likely be analog which doesnt work on any of the networks anymore I believe.
You are correct at the technical level. All cell phones old and new are transmitters and can be tracked. Furthermore all cell phones old and new can be fooled into connecting to a Stingray or fake cell tower node.
At the most fundamental level, BSmith is not completely free of risk. Still, everything is cumulative and for what is important to him he is better off than most. I can't fault him and it's his choice. Of course it's a choice that may not remain viable for long, but it might last long enough for his purposes so ....
I work for the state dick
and a good example you proved to be right there and that, IF you really do work for the State. Who knows really, besides you, since this is cyberWorld
It 'suggestion' came from the Senate so what did you expect - for it to make sense?
blackacidevil
Gawd
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We had this problem in Toronto a couple months back. An 8 year old child was reported missing in Thunder Bay, Ontario ( for those of you who are geographically handicapped, TB is on the northwest shore of Lake Superior, about 300 miles north-east of Minneapolis) and people's cell phones went off all over the province. Naturally, there was multiple complaints from people in Toronto about why they were receiving an Amber Alert warning on their phones for a child missing in a city a 15-hour, 850 mile drive away.
Cricket has them.
Is it possible that you aren't really thinking this through very well? How is an ISP going to display an alert instantaneously (or near to it) on a Roku? Or an Amazon Fire? Or a Chromecast? Or Linux (or its multitude of variants)? Or a smart TV (across many brands)?
The beauty of aiming at streaming is two-fold:
1. Streaming is how people are replacing OTA/cable/satellite TV, where emergency broadcasting alerts have been aimed before.
2. The streamers themselves control their software and their streams. Inserting an alert that will display regardless of platform is something that they can probably accomplish, fairly easily.
Again, there is still the drawback of correctly identifying locations via IP addresses, but that could probably be accomplished in cooperation with the ISPs.
I don't know how well it would or will work, but I submit that your certainty that the ISPs will be able to reliably do it at all is misplaced.
MooCow
[H]F Junkie
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IMO, the best way to implement emergency alerts for streamers is to use their zipcode. Streamers will get a popup prompting them for their zipcode. This prompt could come up during first power on/first usage of streaming service OR the zipcode could be set in the options menu later on. Also, you should be able to set a radius in miles from your zipcode that you would like to receive a type of Emergency Alert for (2 miles for Amber Alerts, 25 miles for Weather Alerts, etc.)
At the prompt, you have two options: 1) Enter your zipcode and then click "Opt in Emergency Alerts that occur within XX miles of my zipcode" OR 2) "No, I prefer to watch the movie uninterrupted (Opt out)".
Why are you guys talking about GEOIP locations and forced opt-in... they should just be clear about it by leaving it disabled by default, and zero in on your location by zipcode if you choose to opt-in.
A second possible solution is to have the streamer set their APPROXIMATE location on a map and set the radius in miles for each type of Emergency Alert (example again would be 2 miles for Amber Alerts, 25 for Weather).
For example, at work our GEOIP location is all fucked up for us. My job is located in North Brunswick, NJ yet GEOIP says we're in Hicksville, NY. I checked the straight line distance in Google Maps between the two cities and its 55~ miles.
Using zipcodes with USER SET DISTANCES would be an ideal solution to this problem. Fuck the authorities that think they know where you are and start issuing alerts for a "missing child" on the other side of the country. Yes that was sarcasm, get over it.
At the prompt, you have two options: 1) Enter your zipcode and then click "Opt in Emergency Alerts that occur within XX miles of my zipcode" OR 2) "No, I prefer to watch the movie uninterrupted (Opt out)".
Why are you guys talking about GEOIP locations and forced opt-in... they should just be clear about it by leaving it disabled by default, and zero in on your location by zipcode if you choose to opt-in.
A second possible solution is to have the streamer set their APPROXIMATE location on a map and set the radius in miles for each type of Emergency Alert (example again would be 2 miles for Amber Alerts, 25 for Weather).
For example, at work our GEOIP location is all fucked up for us. My job is located in North Brunswick, NJ yet GEOIP says we're in Hicksville, NY. I checked the straight line distance in Google Maps between the two cities and its 55~ miles.
Using zipcodes with USER SET DISTANCES would be an ideal solution to this problem. Fuck the authorities that think they know where you are and start issuing alerts for a "missing child" on the other side of the country. Yes that was sarcasm, get over it.
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Just validates why this is a stupid bill that needs to die. There is no way to ensure this gets implemented or controlled with any amount of common sense. Thus it has no business existing. Yea my local area pisses me off. There is nothing more irritating than my phone blasting at max volume despite being muted at 3 in the fucking morning about an amber alert over 100 fucking miles from me.
Unfortunately, 3G support is going away at T-Mobile as they migrate everything to LTE.
That may be an option, down the road. Right now my stupid flip phone works fine for me. I replaced the battery in it a couple of years ago and that gave it new life. Keeping my fingers crossed that it holds on.
The process needs to be automated. Having to set your location or enter a zip code at the start of every single video or song would be horrible. I would never use that service again if pandora required me to set my location on a map for every song it started to play.
Something like what you are suggesting only works if done once due you never moving. However if you are using a mobile device (laptop, tablet, roku / similar decive) that can be moved around and either be connected from anywhere you have lost the effectiveness because it isn’t accurate.
For this to work it has to be able figure out where you are without any assistance otherwise it is going to be too invasive.
Phuck no! This would mean they would have access to these entire networks? Big brother doesn't need to be spying on what we watch as well. These services will likely feature interactive video and audio, at some point in the future - do you really want Big Brother having a video camera on you while you watch TV? Black Mirror S1E2.
MooCow
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I didn't suggest for the system to ask you to enter your zipcode at the start of every video. I meant like the very first time you use the streaming service.
That doesn't help you when you are moving and defeats their entire goal. They want to be able to notify everyone of issues. I first create my account and launch Netflix in the middle of Oklahoma . I then go on vacation in Florida in the middle of hurricane season. Which do I care about when I am on vacation a major thunderstorm in southern Kansas or a Category 4 hurricane heading towards the beach house I rented for 2 weeks? Or better yet, lets say I am driving from Oklahoma to my rental in Florida using my car's built in hotspot while driving so that the kids can watch some videos to put them to sleep when a tornado is spotted on the ground 15 miles up the road. For the first one, you are requiring me to remember every time I launch Netflix, amazon, vudu, spotify, pandora and every single web site / app that I open when I am on a trip to go into the settings of every single one and update my location then when I get home go through them all again and update them. So you go to work, stop and update everything first thing if you listen to music while at work. Get home and reupdate it. Go on vacation, update everything. Go visit some family update everything. Not just for one person but for you, your spouse, all the kids for every phone, laptop, tablet..... nobody is going to do that. That is too much work. When in motion for a long trip and using a streaming service for music or movies you would have to stop and update them every so often to have a somewhat current location to give you updated alerts.
The problem with your thought is that you are expecting people only ever use all services at their home and at no point in their life ever leave the house. Because as soon as you leave your house all those alerts are almost worthless. I say almost as at least you know what is going on back at your home, but that doesn't help you personally at your exact position at that moment in time for most of your day.
If you aren't going to give 90% of the people usable alerts for where they are at that moment you might as well give them nothing. If the intent is to let every person in Hawaii know that they are going to die unless they get out of the way of a river of lava, you kind of need to know how to get ahold of the people in Hawaii and not just expect that 100% of the people updated their zip code for their few day trip to say where they are at.
Overblod
Limp Gawd
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Imagine living in Tornado Ally... wouldn't you like to know in time rather than die watching a movie... It does not have to play sound, maybe just a scrolling banner...
....but you didn't care about internet and blah blah blah, yes? so the base model with GSM 900 and 1800 MHz is all you need...
You people are nuts. This system already exists, and has existed since 2006. Its called IPAWS-OPEN - https://www.fema.gov/integrated-public-alert-warning-system-open-platform-emergency-networks. You can see some example messages here: http://ipawsnonweather.alertblogger.com/ . Its basically just an RSS feed, and Netflix/Amazon/etc. already have a billing area code to match your location to. If thats not good enough, have the set top box, Roku, Fire TV,etc. ask for your zip code when you first turn it on. Tie it to the clock, so they have some incentive to put it in correctly. The Fire TV already has your Amazon billing information anyway.
I wont cover the moving device argument since that was covered already. But I will point out how flawed this is to self identify. What if I put the wrong code inadvertently? What if I do it on purpose?
Having the system identify me is even more difficult and unreliable believe it or not. Geo location of IP addresses is not always very accurate for normal users let alone those of us that use a VPN.
TV/Radio were always the "way we did it" in the past. Moving forward with those just because that's the way its always been done is not a good reason. I submit that for this purpose TV and Radio are both obsolete and incapable of supporting this any longer. We should utilize the cell network and what remains of the land lines to push alerts. Anything else can be supplemental at best.
Video standards are standards for a reason.
An ISP could simply take every request for any url and alias it to the same source url which is the intended emergency broadcast. Your Roku asks for The Last Jedi from Netflix but you are going to get the emergency broadcast in a standard video format instead. I could even provide that in multiple formats so that if you're original request was for an MP4 then you'll get an MP4 in it's place.
The Emergency actually interrupts your normal connection for a short period of time, once every X number of minutes, then returns you to your normal data stream. You content provider just sees it as a normal break in the connection and you should resync and pick right back up without loosing anything but the time needed to push the emergency broadcast.
As for determining location, for home connection to your ISP your ISP has your street address. Your service provider for your phone has your cell tower you are on. It's too easy.
3G is going away everywhere in the US it's just a matter of time. 5G is coming and 3G is one radio standard too old to have to maintain.
Umm, I can't tell what you are talking about, you didn't point to what you are referring too.
But as for the general gist of your comment, Big Brother already has access to all of the networks.