By TATIANA PROPHET
1914 President Woodrow Wilson signs into the law the Federal Trade Commission Act creating the FTC, heir to the Bureau of Corporations created by President Theodore Roosevelt.
The act declares unlawful unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce, and empowers the commission to issue “cease and desist” orders to corporations engaged in such behavior. Exemptions are banks, air carriers and “common carriers” which were regulated by the 1887 Interstate Commerce Act, amended by Congress in 1910 to include interstate telephone companies.
1934 President Franklin Roosevelt signs the Communications Act on June 19. It replaces the Federal Radio Commission with the Federal Communications Commission, expanding jurisdiction over both wired and wireless communication. The act is codified into law as Chapter 5 of Title 47 of United States Code. It regulates telephone and telegraph common carriers and their rates, allocates radio frequencies and licenses radio operators.