Netflix, Hulu could send emergency alerts if new bill comes to pass

Streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and Spotify could begin serving up emergency notifications thanks to a bill being introduced in the U.S. Senate.TechCrunch spotted a new bill named Reliable Emergency Alert Distribution Improvement (READI) Act of 2018 being sent out by U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and John Thune (R-S.D.). In addition to better ensuring emergency alerts reach mobile phones, televisions and radios, the bill wants to “explore new ways of alerting the public through online video and audio streaming services.”“When a missile alert went out across Hawaii in January, some people never got the message on their phones, while others missed it on their TVs and radios. Even though it was a false alarm, the missile alert exposed real flaws in the way people receive emergency alerts,” said Schatz, lead Democrat on the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet, in a statement. “Our bill fixes a number of important problems with the system responsible for delivering emergency alerts. In a real emergency, these alerts can save lives so we have to do everything we can to get it right.”