Comments on: Congresswoman, CALM Thyself! LA Times Eschews Eshoo Nanny State Bill to Regulate Ad Volume

By: Berin Szoka

Berin Szoka — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 05:29:58 +0000

Looks like Dolby HQ is just a few miles north in Pelosi's district. So, close, but not quite…

By: Berin Szoka

Berin Szoka — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 00:29:58 +0000

Looks like Dolby HQ is just a few miles north in Pelosi's district. So, close, but not quite…

By: Douglas2

Douglas2 — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 03:06:32 +0000

Actually controlling "how loud thing sound to people" is not trivial, and not directly related to the amplitude of the sound. Just look up Zwicker loudness on google-scholar to see some of the issues. Fortunately , Dolby Labs have come up with equipment that can be inserted into the broadcast chain and control the perceived loudness quite nicely. They are located in Eshoo's district, aren't they? It sure would be nice for them if this became law.

By: mwendy

mwendy — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 02:00:04 +0000

This amplifier goes to 11.

By: Steve R.

Steve R. — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:07:11 +0000

Ah the Nanny State surfaces again. Why deal with trivial Nanny State issues, such as volume control when you can deal with significant Nanny State issues. Richard Bennett writes: "It is time for the U.S. government to take global theft of U.S. intellectual property, especially digital content, much more seriously. A new ITIF report finds that the U.S. government can and should do more to support industry efforts to reduce digital piracy, a growing problem that threatens not only the robust production of digital content, but U.S. jobs." So here we a person promoting the involvement of Government (Nanny State) to protect a special interest. For those who seek to have a smaller government that stays out of our daily lives, this post by Richard would be ripe for refutation.

Why do there seem to be only posts raising the specter of the Nanny State when the government seeks to "protect" its citizens but there are no posts exposing corporate appeals to the Nanny State (big government) for "protection"?

To paraphrase Orwell, we are all equal but some of us are more equal.

By: Adam Thierer

Adam Thierer — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 21:51:32 +0000

Hmmm… smoking versus loud ads. One kills, one doesn't.

By: Robb Topolski

Robb Topolski — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:11:39 +0000

We've had many decades of unregulated commercial volume and the problem has continued unabated. Unfortunately, maybe this is like smoking in public places, with the only way to get the bad actors to finally behave themselves is to ban it. I hate that it's so, but it seems so.