Lee.org

If we’re going to live in a world with rules, here’s one rule I can live with.

Every time I go a relative’s house, I see my family subject themselves to insanely loud TV ads. It’s like out of Vonnegut’s Harrison Bergeron. Every few minutes a television somewhere in the house starts blaring. TVs are on all day and night in every room of the house, even the 10 year old’s room. So for their sake, I welcome this new law:

(via)
President Barack Obama today signed into law S.2847, the Commercial Advertising Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act, which forbids television ads from playing at a volume noticeably louder than the programs during which they air.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse says, “With the signing of the CALM Act, the top consumer complaint to the Federal Communications Commission for over a half century is now addressed…

Households across the country will now get the relief they deserve from the annoyance of blaringly loud television commercials. Consumers will no longer need to dive for the ‘mute’ button during commercial breaks,” she said. “My simple, two-page bill reduces the volume of television commercials, allowing them to be no louder than regular programming. It gives the control of sound back to the consumer, where it belongs. While this small bill doesn’t solve the many challenges facing our country, it is a commonsense solution for a national nuisance.”

S.2847 was signed into law December 15th 2010.