STATUTORY RULES.

1917. No. 136.

REGULATIONS UNDER THE WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY ACT 1905-1915.

Wireless Telegraphy Regulations.

I, THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL in and over the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, hereby make the following Regulations under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1905-1915, to come into immediate operation.

Dated this twentieth day of June, One thousand nine hundred and seventeen.

R. M. FERGUSON,

Governor-General.

By His Excellency’s Command,

JOSEPH COOK,

Minister of State for the Navy.

Wireless Telegraphy Regulations.

Amendments.

Regulation 9—Cancel paragraph (4) and substitute the following in lieu thereof:—

“(4) The memorandum is to be written on each part of the licence, but in the case of the licensee’s parts, it shall be in the form of an official receipt for the renewal fee signed by the Minister or Naval Secretary or by any person authorized to receive moneys on behalf of the Department of the Navy. Such receipts are to be attached by the licensee to the parts of the licence in his possession.”

After Regulation 10—Insert new Regulation 10a:—

Tuned Crystallite Receivers.

10a. (1) All vessels licensed under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1905-1915 of the Commonwealth of Australia and fitted with wireless telegraphy installations operating or trading in the territorial waters of the Commonwealth or adjacent islands under the Commonwealth control shall be equipped with tuned crystallite Receivers or Receivers of the Gas Bulb or Electrolytic type. Other Receivers suitable for connecting to the detector terminals of the “Marconi” Multiple Tuner may be utilized when fitted with suitable transformer, and provided that the tuning and sensitivity are of equal efficiency to that obtained from a Receiver specially designed for use with crystallite detectors.

(2) Vessels affected by this Regulation shall take immediate action to comply with same; but the Naval Board may, if circumstances of supplies warrant it, grant an extension of time for the fitting of the apparatus required by this Regulation for a period not exceeding three months from the date of the issue of this Regulation.

FORM OF LICENCE.

Dated 191 .

Commonwealth of Australia.

THE MINISTER FOR THE NAVY

to

.......................................................

———

Licence to Establish a Wireless Telegraph Ship Station.

To all to whom these Presents shall come, I the Honorable                                 the Minister for the Navy of the Commonwealth of Australia

Send Greeting:

Whereas                          of                                                                                    in the State of                                                                      (hereinafter called “the Licensee”) is desirous of                                                                      establishing, erecting, maintaining, and using on the                                          called                                                                      belonging to the Licensee appliances for the purpose of transmitting and receiving messages by means of wireless telegraphy:

AND WHEREAS by reason of the provisions of the Telegraph Acts 1863 to 1907 of the United Kingdom and the Wireless Telegraphy Order 1908 of the United Kingdom it is unlawful to establish any wireless telegraph station or install or work any apparatus for wireless telegraphy in any place or on board any British ship (whether in the territorial waters of the British Islands or on the high seas) except under and in accordance with a licence granted in that behalf by the Postmaster-General of that Kingdom:

PROVIDED THAT a person on board a British ship which is registered in any British Possession (other than the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man) or in any British Protectorate, shall not be deemed to commit an offence against the Wireless Telgraphy Act 1904 of the United Kingdom by reason of the installation and working of wireless telegraphy on such ship if the authority in such Possession or Protectorate having power by law so to do shall have granted a licence for the installation and working of apparatus for wireless telegraphy on that ship and if such person is acting in accordance with the provisions of such licence:

AND WHEREAS the ship in respect of which this licence is granted is registered in the Commonwealth:

AND WHEREAS by the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1905-1915 of the Commonwealth of Australia it is enacted that licences to establish, erect, maintain, and use stations and appliances for the purpose of transmitting or receiving messages by means of wireless telegraphy may be granted by the Minister for the Navy, for such terms and on such conditions and on payment of such fees as are prescribed:

AND WHEREAS the Licensee has made application for this Licence and has paid the prescribed fee payable in respect thereof:

NOW I,        the Minister for the Navy aforesaid, in pursuance of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1905-1915, and in exercise of all powers and authorities enabling me in this behalf, do hereby grant to the Licensee during the term or period commencing on the                                                                                                                                                          day of                                                        19              , and terminating on the                                                                                    day of                                                        , 19              , licence and permission—

(i) To establish, erect, and install and maintain, work, and use for the purposes hereinafter mentioned at the ship station specified in the First Schedule hereto, appliances or apparatus for wireless telegraphy of the kind used in the system known as the                                                        system of wireless telegraphy (which apparatus is hereinafter referred to as “the licensed apparatus”).

Provided that—

(a) Each ship station shall be of such class mentioned in Article xiii. of the Service Regulations annexed to the Radio-telegraph Convention 1912 as is specified in the said schedule opposite to the name of such station;

(b) The apparatus installed shall be of the character specified in the said First Schedule;

(c) A complete scheme of the connexions intended to be employed shall be supplied by the Licensee;

(d) The transmitting apparatus used on each ship station shall be of such a character that the waves emitted are as pure and little damped as possible and the receiving apparatus used at the said station or stations shall be of such a character as to afford the greatest possible protection from disturbance during the reception of signals.

(e) The licensed apparatus shall be so constructed as to be capable of using wave-lengths of 300 metres in length as measured by the standard of measurement in use by the Post Office in the United Kingdom for the time being and may have such other wave-lengths not exceeding 600 metres in length as shall be authorized in writing from time to time by the Minister for the Navy;

(f) The speed of transmission and reception of messages shall not in normal circumstances be less than twenty words a minute, five letters being counted as one word.

(ii) To transmit and receive messages by means of the licensed apparatus between the said ship station and coast stations and other ship stations. Provided that the transmission and receipt of messages from and at the said ship station when in any harbor in the British Islands shall be subject to such conditions and restrictions as the Postmaster-General of the United Kingdom may prescribe from time to time, and when in any harbor in the Commonwealth or any Territory under the control of the Commonwealth shall be subject to the Regulations under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1905-1915; and

(iii) To receive money or other valuable consideration for or in respect of the use of the licensed apparatus, or for or in respect of the transmission or receipt of messages by means of the said apparatus.

And I do hereby declare that the said Licence and permission is granted on subject to the following conditions and provisions:—

Interpretation clause.

1. In these presents (and in the First Schedule hereto) the following words and expressions shall have the several meanings hereinafter assigned to them unless there be something either in the subject or context repugnant to such construction (that is to say):—

The expression “wireless telegraphy” has the same meaning as in the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1904 of the United Kingdom.

The term “telegraph” has the same meaning as in the Telegraph Act 1869 of the United Kingdom.

The expression “naval signalling” means signalling by means of any system of wireless telegraphy between two or more ships of His Majesty’s Navy between ships of His Majesty’s Navy and Naval Stations or between a ship of His Majesty’s Navy or a Naval Station, and any other wireless telegraph station, whether a coast station or a ship station.

The expression “His Majesty’s Navy” includes ships being part of the Naval Forces of any part of His Majesty’s Dominions.

The expression “the Admiralty” means the Commissioners for executing the office of Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

The expressions “the International Telegraph Convention” and “the International Telegraph Regulations” mean respectively the International Convention of St. Petersburg, dated the 10th-22nd July, 1875, and the Service Regulations made thereunder, and include respectively any modifications of the Convention or Regulations made from time to time.

The expression “the Radio-telegraphic Convention 1912” means the Convention signed at London on the 5th day of July, 1912, and the Service Regulations made thereunder, and includes any modification of the Convention or Regulations made from time to time.

The expression “coast station” means a wireless telegraph station which is established on land or on board a ship permanently moored, and which is open for the service of correspondence between the land and ships at sea.

The term “ship station” means a wireless telegraph station established on board a ship which is not permanently moored.

Restrictions on use of apparatus.

2. The licensed apparatus shall not be used by the Licensee or by any other person, either on behalf or by permission of the Licensee, for the transmission or receipt of messages except messages authorized by this Licence.

Protection of naval signalling.

3. (1) The Licensee shall not by the transmission of any message by means of the licensed apparatus or otherwise by the use of the licensed apparatus interfere with naval signalling.

(2) Stations using wave-lengths longer than those set apart for Naval purposes shall not emit any subsidiary waves or harmonics likely to interfere with signalling or the commercial wave-lengths or naval wave-lengths in the vicinity.

(3) If the Admiralty or the Minister for the Navy is of opinion that the working of the licensed apparatus specified in the First Schedule hereto is inconsistent with the free use of naval signalling, the Licensee shall when required in writing by the Minister for the Navy so to do, close the said station.

(4) These provisions for the protection of naval signalling shall be construed to be without prejudice to the generality of any other provisions of this Licence.

Licensee to observe International Telegraph Convention and Regulations.

4. For the purpose of this Licence, the Licensee shall observe the International Telegraph Convention and the International Telegraph Regulations so far as the said Convention and Regulations are capable of being applied to wireless telegraphy in common with ordinary land and submarine telegraphy.

Licensee to observe Regulations as to wireless telegraphy.

5. The Licensee shall observe the provisions of any Regulations from time to time made under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1905-1915 so far as the same are applicable to the Licensee.

Radio-telegraphic Convention to be observed.

6. The Licensee shall observe the provisions of the Radio-telegraphic Convention 1912.

As to interference.

7. The Licensee shall comply with all such directions and observe all such rules as may be given or made by the Minister for the Navy from time to time for the purpose of preventing interference with the working of any other wireless telegraph station and for enabling the messages exchanged by means of the licensed apparatus to be distinguished from those emanating from any other wireless telegraph station.

Alteration of apparatus.

8. The licensed apparatus shall not, without the consent of the Minister for the Navy, be altered or modified in respect of any of the particulars mentioned in the Schedules hereto.

Emergency apparatus.

9. The apparatus shall include such emergency installation as may be required according to the class of the ship station under the provisions of Article XI. of the Service Regulations annexed to the Radio-telegraph Convention 1912.

Indemnity of Minister for Navy.

10. The Licensee shall at all times indemnify the Minister for the Navy against all actions, claims, and demands which may be brought or made by any corporation company, or person in resect of any injury arising from any act licensed or permitted by these presents.

Messages to be transmitted without favour or preference.

11. (1) Subject to the provisions of this Licence, the Licensee shall transmit messages by means of the licensed apparatus on equal terms without favour or preference, whether as regards rates of charge, order of transmission, or otherwise. Provided always that signals of distress and messages in connexion therewith shall receive priority over all other messages and that the order of transmission of such other messages shall be governed by the International Telegraph Regulations.

(2) In respect of messages transmitted on behalf of His Majesty’s Government or the Government of the Commonwealth the Licensee shall charge rates not in excess of half of the rates charged to the ordinary public.

Licensee to receive signals of distress.

12. The Licensee shall, so far as possible, receive from ships and light stations all requests for assistance and all signals of distress, and shall answer such requests and signals and re-transmit them with the least possible delay to the proper authorities by means of the licensed apparatus or any other means in the power of the Licensee.

As to persons employed to work station.

13. The licensed apparatus at the said ship station shall be worked only by a person or persons holding a certificate or certificates of competency issued by the Minister for the Navy or by the Postmaster-General of the United Kingdom. Certificates of competency shall be granted only to persons who satisfy the Minister for the Navy that they possess the requisite technical proficiency as regards operating and knowledge of the regulations governing signalling, and shall be in such form and subject to such conditions as the Minister for the Navy shall from time to time prescribe.

Provisions as to secrecy.

14. The Licensee shall not divulge to any person (other than properly authorized officials of His Majesty’s Government or the Government of the Commonwealth or a competent legal tribunal) or make any use whatever of any message coming to the knowledge of the Licensee and transmitted by naval signalling or by any system of wireless telegraphy provided or maintained by or for the purposes of the Postmaster-General or any Department of His Majesty’s Government or the Government of the Commonwealth, or by any Licensee of the Minister for the Navy (other than the Licensee).

Registers of messages to be kept.

15. The Licensee shall keep full accounts, records, and registers of all messages transmitted by means of the licensed apparatus, and in such registers each of such messages shall be accompanied by its identifying number and date and full particulars of its place of origin and of ultimate destination, and such further particulars as the Minister for the Navy shall from time to time reasonably require to be shown, messages on His Majesty’s service being in such registers distinguished from other messages. The Licensee shall preserve all used message forms, written and printed, and transcripts of messages, and all other papers for such period as from time to time prescribed by the Radio-telegraphic Convention 1912, and in default of any provisions on the subject in the said Convention for such period as is from time to time prescribed by the International Telegraph Regulations, and such registers and message papers shall be open to the inspection of the Minister for the Navy or his officers thereto authorized at the Head Office of the Licensee in                                          between the hours of 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on every day, except Sunday or a Statute or general holiday.

Power to Minister for the Navy to inspect apparatus.

16. The Minister for the Navy and any agent authorized in that behalf in writing by him may at all reasonable times enter upon the ship station hereby licensed for the purpose of inspecting, and may inspect any apparatus fixed or being in such station for the purpose of sending and receiving messages by wireless telegraphy, and all other telegraphic instruments and apparatus fixed or being in such station, and the working and use of such apparatus and telegraphic instruments.

Licence and other documents to be carried by ships.

17. The Licensee shall carry on every ship at which a ship station is established under this Licence a print or copy of the Licence certified under the hand of an appropriate officer of the Minister for the Navy to be a true copy, and also such documents as may be prescribed by the Minister for the Navy for the purpose of enabling the Licensee to communicate with coast stations in accordance with the Radio-telegraphic Convention 1912.

Fees.

18. (1) The Licensee shall pay to the Minister for the Navy for and in respect of the Licence hereby granted a fee of One pound per annum.

(2) The fee payable under this Licence shall be payable before the issue of the Licence, and the fee payable upon the renewal of the Licence shall be payable before such renewal.

Licence not to be assigned.

19. Except with the consent in writing of the Minister for the Navy, the Licensee shall not assign, underlet or otherwise dispose of or admit any other person or body to participate in the benefit of the licence powers or authorities hereby granted.

Power to take possession of or control apparatus upon emergency.

20. (1) If and whenever an emergency shall have arisen in which it is expedient for the public service that His Majesty’s Government shall have control over the transmission of messages by the licensed apparatus, it shall be lawful for any officer in command of any ship of war of His Majesty’s Navy to cause the licensed apparatus, or any part thereof, to be taken possession of in the name and on behalf of His Majesty and to be used for His Majesty’s service and subject thereto for such ordinary services as to the said officer may seem fit, and in that event any person authorized by the said officer may enter upon any ship on which any such apparatus is installed and take possession of the said apparatus and use the same as aforesaid.

(2) Any such officer may in such event as aforesaid, instead of taking possession of the licensed apparatus as aforesaid, direct and authorize such persons as he may think fit to assume the control of the transmission of messages by the licensed apparatus, either wholly or partly, and in such manner as he may direct, and such persons may enter upon any ship on which any apparatus is installed accordingly, or the said officer may direct the Licensee to submit to him or any person authorized by him all messages tendered for transmission or arriving by the licensed apparatus, or any class or classes of such messages to stop or delay the transmission of any messages, or deliver the same to him or his agent, and generally to obey all such directions with reference to the transmission of messages as the said officer may prescribe, and the Licensee shall obey and conform to all such directions.

(3) The Licensee shall be entitled to reasonable compensation for any damage to the licensed apparatus arising in consequence of the exercise of the powers conferred by this clause.

Provision for revocation of Licence in certain events.

21. In any of the following cases (that is to say):—

(a) In case of any sum of money which ought to be paid by the Licensee to the Minister for the Navy, under or by virtue of these presents, shall be in arrear and unpaid for one calendar month after the time at which the same ought to be paid under or by virtue of the covenants herein contained;

(b) In case of any breach, non-observance, or non-performance by or on the part of the Licensee of any or the covenants (other than a covenant for the payment of money) or conditions herein contained, and on the part of the Licensee to be observed and performed; or

(c) In case the Licensee fails to comply with any regulation for the time being in force under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1905-1915,

then and in any such case the Minister for the Navy may by notice in writing revoke and determine these presents, and the licence powers, and authorities hereinbefore granted, and thereupon these presents and the said Licence, powers, and authorities shall absolutely cease, determine, and become void but without prejudice to any right of action or remedy which shall have accrued or shall thereafter accrue to the Minister for the Navy under the covenants on the part of the Licensee herein contained.

Licence not to affect Minister for Navy’s rights.

22. Nothing in these presents contained shall prejudice or affect the right of the Minister for the Navy from time to time to establish, extend, maintain, and work any system or systems of telegraphic communication (whether of a like nature to that hereby licensed or otherwise) in such manner as he shall in his discretion think fit neither shall anything herein contained prejudice or affect the right of the Minister for the Navy from time to time to enter into agreements for or to grant licences relative to the working and use of telegraphs (whether of a like nature to those hereby licensed or otherwise) or to the transmission of messages in any part of the Commonwealth or any Territory under the control of the Commonwealth by means of wireless telegraphy, or by any other means with or to any person or persons whomsoever upon such terms as he shall in his discretion think fit. And (save as in this Licence expressly provided (nothing herein contained shall be deemed to authorize the Licensee to exercise any of the powers or authorities conferred on or acquired by the Minister for the Navy by or under the Post and Telegraph Act 1901-1910 or the Wireless Telegraphs Act 1905-1915.

Notices &c.

23. Any notice, request, or consent (whether expressed to be in writing or not) to be given by the Minister for the Navy under these presents may be under the hand of the Minister for the Navy or any Minister or officer authorized by the Minister for the Navy to act on his behalf, and may be served by sending the same in a registered letter addressed to the Licensee at the usual or last-known place of residence or business of the Licensee, and any notice to be given by the Licensee under these presents may be served by sending the same in a registered letter addressed to the Naval Secretary at his official address within the Commonwealth.

SCHEDULE I.

Particulars of the Ship Station referred to in this Licence.

Other particulars:—

SCHEDULE II.

Complete Scheme of Connexions authorized to be employed in the herein Licensed Station.

This drawing, which is purely diagrammatic, shows the circuits authorized to be employed in both the transmitter and receiver.

Signed, sealed, and delivered by the Minister for the Navy in the presence of (l.s.)

Signed, sealed, and delivered by the Licensee in the presence of (l.s.)

Printed and Published for the Government of the Commonwealth of Australia by Albert J. Mullett, Government Printer for the State of Victoria.

C.4923.—Price 3d.