§327 Naval stations; use for commercial messages; rates

Summary

The Secretary of the Navy may use any Navy-owned radio station or equipment anywhere, unless a treaty or other international agreement forbids it. He sets the rules and the charges for that use. The charges must be fair and can be changed by the Commission if someone complains. The Navy may send and receive press messages from U.S. newspapers or press groups, and private commercial messages between ships, between ship and shore, inside Alaska, and between Alaska and the continental United States. Except for press traffic on certain long-distance routes (including the Pacific coast, Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, American Samoa, the Philippine Islands, the Orient, and between the United States and the Virgin Islands), the Navy’s charges cannot be lower than what private stations charge. If private stations can meet normal communication needs between any places or between places and private ships, and the Commission tells the Secretary, the Navy must stop using its stations for those routes.