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This British Broadcasting Chronology has two beginnings. One is focused upon the application of scientific and social events, and another one covers the legacy of the General Post Office from its start in 1660*, to its expansion of powers under the Wireless Telegraphy Act of 1904.
It was following the introduction of the Wireless Telegraphy Act of 1904 that broadcasting began in the UK by means of wireless telephony. Up until this time, all communications were point-to-point, or person-to-person via wireless telegraphy. (Marconi spark gap Morse Code.)
However, a major change took place with the advent of wireless telephony because it involved 'broadcasting' messages via a wireless transmitter to anyone and everyone within range who had access to a wireless receiver.
By sleight-of-hand, and not by legislation, the Wireless Telegraphy Act of 1904 was interpreted as giving authority to the General Post Office to exclusively govern broadcasts that were both sent from within the United Kingdom and heard within the United Kingdom by wireless telephony. This included broadcasts that were sent from both within and outside of the UK, that were received within the UK.
Some mumbling was heard at the time questioning this huge expansion of government censorship, because it assumed authority based upon the Wireless Telegraphy Act of 1904. In fact, none had been created by legislation.
But it was not until 1954 when the Independent Television Authority (ITA) was created by the Television Act of July 30, 1954, that by latter-day observation, it was realized that the legislative foundation of the Television Act of 1954, was the 1949 Wireless Telegraphy Act, and the foundation of that Act was the Wireless Telegraphy Act of 1904. In other words, the entire GPO licencing structure to both send and receive wireless telephony broadcasts in the United Kingdom rested upon a very shaky foundation.
In 1954, Charles Orr Stanley, Chairman of the Pye group of companies, and in 1964 the secretive doyen behind the creation of the offshore station called Radio Caroline, was advised by his lawyer of a startling discovery: the GPO was acting without authority to regulate wireless broadcasting transmissions in the United Kingdom.
1904
Date - Under construction.
1927
Date - Under construction.
1954
Date - Under construction.
This British Broadcasting Chronology has two beginnings. One is focused upon the application of scientific and social events, and another one covers the legacy of the General Post Office from its start in 1660*, to its expansion of powers under the Wireless Telegraphy Act of 1904.
It was following the introduction of the Wireless Telegraphy Act of 1904 that broadcasting began in the UK by means of wireless telephony. Up until this time, all communications were point-to-point, or person-to-person via wireless telegraphy. (Marconi spark gap Morse Code.)
However, a major change took place with the advent of wireless telephony because it involved 'broadcasting' messages via a wireless transmitter to anyone and everyone within range who had access to a wireless receiver.
By sleight-of-hand, and not by legislation, the Wireless Telegraphy Act of 1904 was interpreted as giving authority to the General Post Office to exclusively govern broadcasts that were both sent from within the United Kingdom and heard within the United Kingdom by wireless telephony. This included broadcasts that were sent from both within and outside of the UK, that were received within the UK.
Some mumbling was heard at the time questioning this huge expansion of government censorship, because it assumed authority based upon the Wireless Telegraphy Act of 1904. In fact, none had been created by legislation.
But it was not until 1954 when the Independent Television Authority (ITA) was created by the Television Act of July 30, 1954, that by latter-day observation, it was realized that the legislative foundation of the Television Act of 1954, was the 1949 Wireless Telegraphy Act, and the foundation of that Act was the Wireless Telegraphy Act of 1904. In other words, the entire GPO licencing structure to both send and receive wireless telephony broadcasts in the United Kingdom rested upon a very shaky foundation.
In 1954, Charles Orr Stanley, Chairman of the Pye group of companies, and in 1964 the secretive doyen behind the creation of the offshore station called Radio Caroline, was advised by his lawyer of a startling discovery: the GPO was acting without authority to regulate wireless broadcasting transmissions in the United Kingdom.
1904
Date - Under construction.
1927
Date - Under construction.
1954
Date - Under construction.
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