The Communications Act of 1934, the Debate over telephone lines and the creation of the FCC.

By Connor and Aaron 

January 31st, 2010

Thesis Statement

The communications act of 1934 lowered the prices of telephone lines and created the FCC to regulate telephone and radio communications. It effected everyone who bought from or worked for a telephone or radio company. Since there wasn't much opposition against the act it passed in little over a week.

Background Info

The first radio waves were first discovered in the 1860’s by a Scottish Physicist named James Clerk Maxwell. Then in 1886 a German Physicist named Heinrich Rudolph Hertz discovered and demonstrated that rapid variations of electric current could be projected into space in the form of radio waves which became the basis of the radio. After in 1895 Guglielmo Marconi sent and received the first radio waves creating the first radio. The first law relating to the radio was the Radio Act of 1910. The act stated that every boat that had a least 50 people on it would have to have a radio on board that could contact someone in case there was trouble. The act was created mainly to protect lives at sea.

Build Up

The second act that was created was the Radio act of 1912. This act forbade the use of radio broadcasting without a license. The airwaves were getting over crowded because everyone wanted a license and a radio show. Doubts were raised about the secretary’s power. A third law that was passed is the Radio act of 1927. This act created the FRC at 5 members in the administration. A new Deal was thought to be needed because The ICC or Interstate Commerce Commission was preoccupied with railroad regulations and lacked the resources to oversee the large and growing communications field at the same time. A house committee was investigating the communications industry and decided it was time for a new law.

Debate

Structural Reform gave rise to little legislation and resulted into the FCC doing studies and reporting back to Congress. There was a debate over if the FCC would be affected by any other branch of the government or not. The congress debated over what broadcasters would become common carriers and if they could censor or not. If a company was a common carrier it would have to allow everybody on the air. If the audience didn’t like the shows that were put on the radio the company couldn’t make as much money and they would go out of business. Finally they decided that there wouldn’t be any common carriers and the manager of the company would get to decide what was put on the air. Another debate was the Wagner-Hatfield debate which debated over if they would force companies to allocate ¼ of the time to non-profit organizations. It was argued that it wouldn’t be practical and it would cost to much. Also broadcasters already allocated time to non-profit organizations. At the end the act had 7 titles

Title 1- Describes the powers, administration, and formation of the FCC

Title 2- Concerns common carrier regulation

Title 3-Deals with broadcast station requirements
Title 4-Procedural and administrative provisions

Title 5-Enumerates the powers of the commission to improve fines and forfeitures

Title 6-Describes provisions to cable regulations 

Title 7-Enumerates miscellaneous provisions and powers

Impact

After the communications act 1934 the FCC was created and got power over radio broadcast and telephone lines so these powers and the powers to give licenses , short license , to withhold , fine and revoke or renew licenses. There are seven people in FCC commission and the Pres. appoints all of the commissioners. 

Some other effects are, federal candidates must be broadcasted , more people have phone lines because phone lines were then cheaper , and no more bad words were to be said on the radio.

Legacy

The telecommunications act of 1996 was to make Internet accessible to everyone and pushed all the internets together. This was a upgrade from the communications after 1934 . This policy was also created to encourage the FCC to create policies that would encourage technical logical advancement and to reduce violence on television . It was also made law that children stations must have three hours of pro social shows . 

Net neutrality bands cable and Internet companies from slowing down downloads from competitors such as Netflix . The FCC created this rule on its own and did not pass it through congress . This law was meant to preserve open access to the Internet . This law passed on December 21, 2010 with a 3 to 2 vote . The rules will start to take effect in 2011.  

Some of the others acts that happened after the 1934 Communications Act are the cable act of 1992 and the satellite act of 1962. The FCC was reduced to five members in 1983 . The fairness doctrine required radio stations to air both sides of politics for equal time . It was also repealed in 1987 .

Bibliography

"Amendment to the Communications Act of 1934." Apr. 1997. Web. 16 Jan. 2011. <http://www.depts.ttu.edu/itts/documentation/laws/lpctexts/ca34.html>.This website gave me information on the ammendment of the communications act of 1934.

Bellis, Mary. "The Invention of Radio." Inventors. 2010. Web. 27 Jan. 2011. <http://inventors.about.com/od/rstartinventions/a/radio.htm>.This website gave us a lot of background info on the radio such as when radio waves were first found and when the first radio signal was first sent and received.

Communications Act Amendments. Washington: U. S. Govt. Print. Off., 1956. Print.This book was very helpful to us because it has a lot of amendments to the act that a lot of different people tried to get on the act.

"Communications Act of 1934 - Definition." Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - WordIQ Dictionary. Web. 16 Jan. 2011. <http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Communications_Act_of_1934>.This website gave me a description of who opposed the bill and why.

"Communications Act of 1934 as Amended 1996." TheDCoffice.com, The Regulatory Information Service For Communications Professionals. Web. 16 Jan. 2011. <http://www.thedcoffice.com/34act/a34s01.htm>.this website proves that criminalgovermaent.com was right because it states the same information.

"The Communications Act of 1934 Was a Mistake." The Ethical Spectacle. Web. 22 Jan. 2011. <http://www.spectacle.org/896/mistake.html>.This website gave us information on the other side of the argument and why some people didn't like the Communications act of 1934. It also states why some people think act is a bad one and why they made a mistake passing it.

"Communications Act of 1934." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 14 Dec. 2010. Web. 10 Jan. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_Act_of_1934>.This website helped me understand the basic outline of the communications act of 1934.

"Cybertelecom :: Communications Act of 1934." :: Cybertelecom :: Federal Internet Law and Policy ::. 7 Jan. 2011. Web. 12 Jan. 2011. <http://www.cybertelecom.org/notes/communications_act.htm>.this website helped me understand how the fcc was created

Havick, John J. Communications Policy and the Political Process. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1983. 71-84. Print.

"Mobile Phone Jammer." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 16 Jan. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone_jammer>.This website helped me by telling me the consequences of the communication act of 1934.

"Radio Act of 1927." What's New, New Media? Web. 16 Jan. 2011. <http://newmedia.wikia.com/wiki/Radio_Act_of_1927>.This website helped me get a understanding of what the radio act ofr 1927 was which lead up to the communications act of 1934.

Sterling, Christopher H. "U.S. POLICY: THE COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1934." The Museum of Broadcast Communications. Web. 16 Jan. 2011. <http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=uspolicyc>.This website told me that the radio act of 1927 lead up to the communications act of 1934.

U.S Congress. "Communications Act of 1934." The FCC And Community Radio. 19 June 1934. Web. 12 Jan. 2011. <http://www.criminalgovernment.com/docs/61StatL101/ComAct34.html>.This website gave us a deep understanding of what the communications act of 1934 was and why they created the FCC.

Robinson, Glen O. "Title I The Federal Communications Act: an Essay on Origins and Regulatory Purpose." A Legislative History of the Communications Act of 1934. Ed. Max D. Paglin. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989. 3-24. Questia. Web. 22 Jan. 2011.