Another gem made its way out of Congress today. The Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act. The CALM Act (H.R. 1084) makes the “Recommended Practice: Techniques for Establishing and Maintaining Audio Loudness for Digital Television” from the ATSC a mandatory practice.
A few issues.
According to the ATSC documents
The Advanced Television Systems Committee is an international, non-profit organization developing voluntary standards for digital television.
Keyword here is voluntary. Well, not so voluntary anymore. It’s going to be a law. Did Congress miss that part?
Next problem. Who is the ATSC? Why do their policies now set national FCC policies?
And, last but not least, why is Congress wasting their time on a bill that will affect TV volume? Iran, North Korea, Afghanistan, Iraq, a bad economy, health care crisis…and they’re worried about TV volume.