Radio Act of 1912

Radio Act of 1912

The Radio Act of 1912 is a United States federal law that required all seafaring vessels to maintain 24-hour radio watch and keep in contact with nearby ships and coastal radio stations. Part of the impetus for the act's passage was the sinking of the RMS "Titanic". Other factors included an ongoing conflict between amateur radio operators and the U.S. Navy and private corporations, that included the amateurs forging naval messages and issuing fake distress calls. The Wireless Ship Act of 1910 was seen as too weak to address the problems. The United States Congress considered six different proposals for replacing it in the period between 1910 and 1912, eventually enacting the 1912 Act.cite book|title=Radio and Television Regulation: Broadcast Technology in the United States 1920–1960|author=Hugh Richard Slotten|pages=6–8|date=2000|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=080186450X]

The act set a precedent for international and federal legislation of wireless communications. It was followed by the Radio Act of 1927.

The act required all amateur radio operators to be licensed and prohibited them from transmitting over the main commercial and military wavelengths. The task of implementing this was the responsibility of the United States Secretary of Commerce and Labor. The United States Department of Commerce and Labor was empowered to impose fines and to revoke the licences of those radio operators who violated the restrictions laid down by the Act. [cite book|title=The Radio Station: Broadcast, Satellite & Internet|author=Michael C. Keith|pages=35|date=2007|publisher=Focal Press|isbn=0240808509]

References

* [http://earlyradiohistory.us/1912act.htm Text of 1912 Act] , "An Act to regulate radio communication", approved August 13, 1912, "Early Radio History."
* [http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/OSEC/library/legislative_histories/110.pdf One-page historical document giving overview of passage of bill through congress]
* [http://www.oswego.edu/~messere/FRCpage.html Federal Radio Commission Archives]


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