[EAS] No TOE for WEA

[Lowell Kiesow]

WEA messages should have to hit a much higher threshold than EAS messages.  I don't think TOE meets the standard.  WEA messages should only be used for imminent events that have the potential to harm large numbers of people.  Anything less just pushes people to turn it off completely.

The general public finds an EAS message on their radio or TV a minor annoyance.  By contrast, many people consider WEA very intrusive.  If an EAS message is a warning gun shot, a WEA message is a nuclear bomb, and needs to be treated with the same level of caution as the missile launch codes.

The only exception is Amber alerts, because people are sympathetic toward them.  WEA can be used for an Amber alert during normal, waking hours and people are accepting, but send one late at night and expect major backlash. People are much less tolerant toward other event codes.  A TOE sent by WEA at any time of day would result in a flood of complaints and turn-offs.  Miss-use or over use of WEA will effectively kill it as an effective waring tool. We already have enough experiences with WEA that demonstrate all of this.

A huge flaw of WEA is the 90 character message limit.  It simply isn't long enough to convey many messages.  An incomplete or vague message has the effect of sending phone users to calling, texting, or web searching for information which just clogs the network.  For that reason alone, it needs a major overhaul.

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Lowell Kiesow, Senior Engineer
KPLU 88.5, KVIX, KPLI, KPLK
www.kplu.org  www.jazz24.org