Editing Communications Act of 1934 (section)

==Legacy==
The act established a legal basis for regulating wired and wireless communications on a nationwide and worldwide basis. The Federal Communications Commission was founded because of the act; it replaced the Federal Radio Commission. Because of the act, the U.S.&nbsp;government could regulate new media technologies such as television and mobile phones.

Moreover, the act permitted the regulation of commercial communication corporations such as private radio and television companies. Opponents in Congress argued that the act harmed the telecommunications industry, such as by delaying the development of new technologies. In 1982, Congress produced a report recommending changes called "Proposals for Revision of the Communications Act of 1934: Telecommunications Issues".<ref>{{cite web|last=Gilroy|first=A. A.|title=Proposals for Revision of the Communications Act of 1934: Telecommunications Issues.|url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs8789/|work=. UNT Digital Library|access-date=March 17, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100424020203/http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs8789/|archive-date=April 24, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Creation of the Federal Communications Commission===
The [[Commerce Clause]] in Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution grants Congress the authority to regulate foreign and interstate commerce. By the early 20th century, radio transmission had become the most efficient way to facilitate communication about commerce and therefore, radio frequencies on the [[electromagnetic spectrum]] could constitutionally be regulated. The [[Wireless Ship Act of 1910]] called for Congress to modestly regulate the wireless industry and the [[Radio Act of 1912]] was their first attempt to make more legislative oversight to the entire radio industry.

This act required anyone who wanted to transmit over the radio to have government issued permission in form of a license. Along with the help of important legislators, these were the early building blocks that eventually evolved into the FCC.

Secretary of Commerce [[Herbert Hoover]] played a large role regarding regulation because he issued the licenses which allocated the spectrum. Once radio broadcasting became popular, Hoover brought attention to the limited amount of frequency space the spectrum held. This problem made obtaining frequencies and airtime very difficult, as well as making "noise" on existing frequencies. Between 1923 and 1924, Hoover expanded the number of assigned frequencies to reduce the interference, but his quick fix failed, which, in turn, ended self-regulation of spectrum space. Congress then passed the Radio Act of 1927 to create the framework for regulating the rapidly-growing broadcast industry.

President [[Calvin Coolidge]] was an important aspect of radio regulation by signing the Radio Act of 1927, which invested regulatory power to the Federal Radio Commission (FRC). Senators Clarence Dill and [[Wallace H. White,&nbsp;Jr.]] also pushed toward passing the 1927 act. The FRC had a short, 6-year term in American history and transferred its responsibility, as the agency for managing the radio spectrum, to the FCC after the Communications Act of 1934. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the bill in 1934. This change in power was needed to develop a better way of determining who got to use what radio bands and for what purposes. There were many factors and individuals that played a role in the creation of the FCC, but in the end, Congress created the agency.<ref>{{cite web|last=Messere|first=Fritz|title=Encyclopedia of Radio|url=http://www.oswego.edu/~messere/RadioReg.pdf|access-date=May 2, 2011|archive-date=March 19, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319144632/http://www.oswego.edu/~messere/RadioReg.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=About the FCC|url=http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/aboutfcc.html|work=FCC Consumer Facts|publisher=Federal Communications Commission|access-date=May 2, 2011|archive-date=August 10, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100810193244/http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/aboutfcc.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Wiretapping ===
In section 605 of the act, the FCC was empowered by Congress to enforce wiretapping compliance. Academic Colin Agur argues that the Communications Act of 1934 "filled a legal void" by creating a process through which telephone carrier companies could record and report illegal wiretapping requests and the FCC could punish law enforcement officials who abused wiretapping surveillance.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Agur|first=Colin|date=2013|title=Negotiated Order: The Fourth Amendment, Telephone Surveillance, and Social Interactions, 1878-1968|journal=Information & Culture|volume=48|issue=4|pages=419–447|via=ProQuest}}</ref>

===Transition from the Federal Radio Commission===
The FCC took over regulation in 1934 and changed many of the structural characteristics of the original agency, although its goal of reducing interference remained the same. The original FRC had 5 members who were each responsible for representing one geographical area of the United States. Congress also planned for the 5-member agency to become a quasi-judicial body which would only have to meet when necessary. Their jobs were to alleviate "noise" from the airwaves and they were given the power to license and regulate radio stations. The Federal Radio Commission's lack of regulatory action lead to the more permanent Federal Communications Commission. Much like the FRC, the FCC consists of commissioners who are appointed by the President and approved by the Senate. Each Commissioner can only serve for a five-year term, even the one chosen to be the chairperson. Originally there were 7 commissioners with 7 year terms, but this was changed to 5 commissions with 5 year terms in 1986.<ref>Pub. L. 99–334</ref>  Though there are only five commissioners, there are several offices and departments, made up of hundreds and staff members that carry out different duties. For example, the Mass Media Bureau processes license applications and renewals. These divisions of administrative duties differentiate the FRC from the FCC.<ref>{{cite book|last=Murray|first=Michael|title=Encyclopedia of Television News|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J3fhcUnCC1AC&q=FRC+commissioners+duties&pg=PA77|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|access-date=May 2, 2011|isbn=9781573561082|year=1999}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=FCC|url=http://www.acbcert.com/.../seminar.../ATCB%20Seminar%20DRAFT%20Beginner%20CN%20102005.ppt|access-date=May 1, 2011}}{{Dead link|date=November 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>