The Commerce Department's Bureau of Navigation made it a legal requirement that "all large ships maintain radio contact with other ships or shore stations".
Explanation:
The Radio Act of 1912 was formally known as an Act to Regulate Radio Communication and was the first legislation to require licenses for radio stations. It was put into practice before the introduction of broadcasting to the general public and was eventually found to contain insufficient authority to effectively control the new service, so the Act was replaced and the government's regulatory powers increased by the passage of this Act.
