Rep. Eshoo recently spoke with Ryan Nakashima, technology staff writer for the Associate Press (AP), about the CALM Act. Eshoo's legislation prevents television advertisements from playing at a volume noticeably higher than the programs during which they air. Eshoo sponosored and wrote the legislation in the House, which was signed by the President just last year. An excerpt of the article is below:

Shush, already. That's the message the Federal Communications Commission is sending with new rules that force broadcast, cable and satellite companies to turn down the volume on blaring TV commercials.

On Tuesday, the FCC passed a set of regulations that will prevent commercials from being louder than the shows around them. It's all part of the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (or CALM) Act, which President Obama signed into law last December. The rules go into effect a year from now. Companies that don't comply will face unspecified FCC action.

Thunderous television ads have annoyed viewers for years. The FCC says people have grumbled about the issue for at least a half century. But since 2002—thanks in part to all those clangorous car commercials, earsplitting electronics ads and booming beer pitches—loud advertisements have been one of the top complaints the FCC receives.

A few years ago, an annoying ad got to the ears of Rep. Anna Eshoo, the Democratic congresswoman whose district in California's Silicon Valley is home to Facebook and Hewlett-Packard Co. While watching a sporting event with family members, Eshoo was jarred by a "horribly loud" commercial. Her brother-in-law suggested she do something about it. She did—with what started as a simple, one-page legislative proposal.

The measure became one of the most popular bills she's ever sponsored.

"What I never dreamed of was what kind of chord it would strike with people," Eshoo says.

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