[imcarthur]

from BBC

"The US House of Representatives has approved a bill which aims to limit the volume of television advertisements. The Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act (CALM) was approved by a voice vote in the house.

Democrat Anna Eshoo, who filed the motion, said most Americans were willing to tolerate adverts but were annoyed by sudden volume increases. She said broadcasting industry's current voluntary system had failed to deal with the issue.

The CALM bill means that within a year, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) must introduce guidelines proposed by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) in November. Under the rules, "excessively noisy or strident" advertisements would be banned, as would adverts which are noticeably louder - or have a "maximum loudness substantially higher" - than the programme they accompany. "

More curbing of individual rights or is everybody OK with this one?

Ian