The FCC Is Changing Up the Country's Emergency Alert System (theverge.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: The FCC announced today that it'll bolster the country's Emergency Alert System to prevent unexpected false alarms, like the one that happened in Hawaii earlier this year. State and local officials will now be able to conduct "live code" tests that'll use the same alert codes and processes that would be required in an actual emergency. The idea is that officials will better learn the system while the public will get used to responding to alerts and know what to expect. Everyone in the area will get a test message, like a real alert. The agency also says that public service announcements about the Emergency Alert System will now be able to use the same alert sounds as an actual emergency. (The alerts will include a disclaimer about what's happening, and officials will have to actually tell people beforehand.) Finally, anyone who uses the emergency system will be required to tell the FCC if it accidentally triggers a false alert.

Comments

Desensitized

[Anonymous Coward]

This will just train us to ignore the real alerts

Re:Desensitized

[afidel]

No shit, everyone will turn off the EAS messages on their cellphones. I already did that since Verizon apparently can't figure out how to limit EAS messages to a few county range and instead floods every severe weather alert to an area about half the size of most states which means my phone wants to wake me up for a severe thunderstorm over 150 miles away.

Going by recent decisions...

[Translation Error]

Additionally, each test of the alert system will be able to have corporate sponsorship. Citizens will feel safer knowing that a major corporation has a vested interest in their survival. Fewer words will be more comforting than "This test of the Emergency Alert System has been brought to you by the Coca-Cola Bottling Company--have a Coke and a smile!"

insight into the new tests

[nimbius]

Most are familiar with warnings, watches, and amber alerts but little has been done to explain newly overhauled codes for programmers dealing with EAS beacons. The following can be expected to show up in data streams soon.

Amberish alert: a little girl hasnt been abducted but a local law enforcement agency also needs to justify their next years budget. this code is issued for 5 hours, broadcast on news outlets, and then the girls actual location with a family member is revealed.
The amber alert, Sponsored by AT&T: a major telco carrier has intentionally kidnapped a preteen and, if you find her, you receive a coupon for a free large soda with any papa johns pizza order of a large pizza.
Amber alert pro 2005 millennial edition: this is an alert sent from stations running an old copy of windows. no one knows how to turn it off.
uncomfortable disaster alert: issued during slow-rolling man-made disasters for which no accountable agency or individual can be found. School shootings, the Flynt water crisis, honeybee extinction, and collapsing roads and infrastructure are defined as triggering this alert, however the content of the alert is simply an escapist series of movie previews and trailers for upcoming video games.
presidential alert, the best: Get ready for this one because its yuge, really. Awaken at odd hours of the night to rambling screeds such as "jeb is a waste" and "the wall is the best, because america is the best, and, you wouldnt believe it but its gonna be great, trust me." Boggle as congress has legislatively redacted any ability to disable this alert.